We All Die Young
by Dixongurl
Summary: 8 months to a year, after the prison fell Daryl and Beth are still running together trying to find their group. While on the run they formed a strong bond doing almost anything possible to protect each other, they eventually become friends; but will another hug change it all for them?
1. Chapter 1

So I had this vision for a Bethyl story, now I'm most likely not going to follow along with the entire storyline. There may be a few things that stand out. It may at times be a little OOC. The story however takes place 8 months to a year after the prison fell, so things are different. Things will also pick up rather quickly.

There will be lots of POV's come future chapters.

...

Beth stared at Daryl through heavy eyes as sleep began to creep up on her, she watched as Daryl stared into the fire between them as they ate dinner which only consisted of squirrel meat.

She wasn't particularly fond of squirrel meat being over cooked but at least it was something in her stomach which felt uncomfortably full after being empty for so long, that was one of the downfalls of having no food.

The wind seemed to pick up a little as a storm began to approach, it wouldn't be the first time they were out here when a storm happened to sweep through. This time it wasn't good because they were hold up in a makeshift tent which consisted of an old tarp and some sticks, they had a couple blankets and two pillows that they slept on.

They had hub caps from cars as their walker alarm system that Beth suspended between trees, Beth had come up with the idea while her and Daryl searched for a tarp to make as their makeshift tent. She only hoped it held up in a rain storm.

Beth finished up her squirrel even though she couldn't eat another bite, Daryl always made sure he gave her extra because he claimed she was too _skinny _and needed to gain some weight. He looked up from his bowl.

"Ya done already?" He asked.

Beth rolled her eyes as she stuffed the bowl back into the bag they had, she knew he was only looking out for her but still he could get annoying with questions all the time. She sat back down across from him and watched as he picked at the rest of his over cooked meat.

She felt a couple rain drops hit her head and arms, she sighed as she wiped her head with the back of her hand. She slowly stood up and began making her way to the tent, Daryl must have felt the rain too because a couple minutes later he was walking into the tent and setting the bag down.

Beth was already laying down on her side wishing she could at least take off her boots, but since they were out in the middle of no where they had to sleep fully clothed. The rain spared no time as it washed over their camp, it was louder than they expected as it hit the tarp. The thunder was loud as well and the lightening was atrocious, this was definitely not sleeping weather.

Beth sat up with a huff and pulled the blanket up to her shivering body, it may have still been warm during the day time but at night it got cold. She wished for a long sleeve shirt or a sweater even, her tank top was doing nothing but making her either get sun burn during the day or freezing at night.

She looked over at Daryl and watched as he lit a cigarette as he was in a trance by the rain hitting the ground, Beth too realized how hypnotizing the rain could be. She just wished she was in a house looking out at it instead of actually being a part of it, but at least she had something over her head.

She watched as Daryl quietly smoked his last cigarette, he seemed to favor it more then his others. That's how Beth knew it was his last. She turned towards the rain and watched as their fire they had was now just a bunch of wet sticks.

A loud crack of thunder seemed like it was right over top of them, it made Beth and Daryl jump a little but Beth more so since she hated thunder storms. She liked the small little rumbles of thunder on an early morning, but never the loud cracks that would shake a house and rattle it's windows. That was too creepy to her.

"S'its right over head." Daryl mumbled." Should pass through soon."

"Just wish it wasn't so loud." She said even though she wasn't sure if he heard her, she watched as he took a long drag off of his cigarette before throwing the cigarette into the pile of wet sticks.

He actually looked sad and Beth couldn't help but smile as she laid on her left side facing away from him, Beth didn't know what the big deal or addiction was with smoking but it seemed to pass time away.

Daryl watched as Beth got comfortable under the tattered old blanket, he wasn't used to being in the tent with Beth while she was asleep. He usually sat just outside and played with his knife stabbing it into the ground or just simply staring off into the fire. Rain and fire seemed to hypnotize him so much it was unreal.

It just gave him time to think about _stuff _that he didn't want to think about during the day, stuff that if he did take the time to think about it would pull him into the darkness again. But he couldn't do that because for the past 8 months he'd been with Beth who was more supportive then he initially thought in the very beginning, she was always telling him to have faith and hope which was something that didn't come naturally to him.

He never came from a religious family they were all about the drugs and booze, so Daryl never knew what having faith was until he met up with Rick's group or at the time it was Dale's group. Everyone had faith about everything and it wasn't up until after they found the prison that he had a slimmer of faith.

Daryl scoffed thinking of how naive he was to think the prison could be their's forever, Daryl knew just as much as Rick did that the Governor could attack at anytime and he did and now everyone was dead except him and Beth. Or maybe they weren't dead and they were just scattered everywhere, either way they might as well be.

He just didn't want to think about how he could have let Carl kill the Governor before any of this even started, he should have let him but he thought it would cause mayhem but in the end anything they would have done would have caused mayhem.

Daryl still wished he could have saved Hershel, it just nagged at him every day thinking of him kneeling there getting ready to take one for all of them. And then hearing the gut wrenching cries of Maggie and Beth made it worse. He ran his dirt covered fingers through his greasy hair and sighed.

...

The next morning Daryl woke up and realized he must have fallen asleep during the night sometime, he wished he didn't because a herd could have gone by or people at least.

He looked over and half expected Beth to be there but when she wasn't his heart dropped into his stomach, he jumped up from his spot on the bed and darted out of the tent only to bump into her coming back from the woods. She squealed and almost fell back but caught herself before she could fall down.

"Jeez what's wrong?" She asked quickly.

His eyes darted to her belt and saw his knife, he should have paid more attention to the fact that his knife wasn't sitting right next to him. He felt better now that she was okay but his heart was still pounding.

"Where the hell'd you go off too?"

Beth's forehead scrunched." To the bathroom." She mumbled quietly almost to the point where Daryl couldn't hear, but he figured if she wasn't out hunting or picking berries she had to of used the bathroom.

He nodded." You jus' get up?"

"Yeah about 5 minutes ago, you?"

"Jus' now." He admitted shyly as he looked away from Beth back towards the tent.

Beth shook her head as she sat down by the wet twigs and branches to weed out the ruined ones so she could go and get more and start breakfast soon, she found _three _dry ones and the rest were too wet. She stood up and wiped her hands on to her jeans, it didn't matter much that she wiped her dirty hands on her jeans they were already filthy disgusting with mud and grass stains and walker blood and guts.

She watched as Daryl shrugged on his crossbow and gave her the faintest of nods which she found out it meant a lot of things, thanks, hello, bye, be safe, it was definitely silent communication that she enjoyed. She knew Daryl enjoyed it too because he wasn't much of a talker she realized that over the past 8 months.

She could talk all she wants but Daryl only listened and sometimes he'd say something, usually it was just a nod.

She actually saw him smile once too after he had given her some hunting lessons, she tried to get dinner which was a rabbit. She stalked the way he taught her and walked the way he showed her but the rabbit still bolted as soon as she was ready to kill it, she grunted in frustration and Daryl just snickered with a small tiny grin. Beth didn't mind though she liked to make people happy.

"Beth."

She turned around and saw Daryl coming back towards camp, she had almost forgotten she his knife still. She usually used her's but since it was only a pocket knife she didn't necessarily feel safe with it, but she knew he'd needed his knife and plus she had her gun and ammo so she was okay.

"Sorry I forgot." She handed him his knife." Be safe." She said like always when he'd get ready to go hunting. He gave her another nod before walking off making sure to step over their walker alert system. She rubbed her arms as she turned back around, it was chilly this morning.

She began gathering sticks and other various things she found around the area, they needed something like a tissue or a piece of paper to start a fire. Beth was always in charge of doing that or she was for however long they've been out camping in the woods.

She got on her knees and began piling in the sticks, she found that if she stacked them a certain way it was easier for them to catch fire.

As she stacked them she began humming something her mother used to sing to her as a small child, they had taken a mirror from a car and began using it as a fie starter. Beth thought it was quite genius of Daryl to think of that. She would have just retorted to rubbing sticks together, at least this way it's easier.

She began to see smoke rising as the sun hit the mirror and on to the piece of paper, she always felt accomplished when she saw the smoke. At least this time the fire would be going nicely for a while before Daryl arrived back in an hour or so, it really didn't take long before he came back with something.

She heard something off to her right and quickly whipped her head around, she grabbed her gun just in case it was a walker she'd be prepared. She waiting impatiently as the leaves rustling on the ground grew closer and closer, she clicked the safety off of her gun and kept her finger on the trigger.

For some reason it grew quiet eerily quiet to the point where Beth could hear her heart thumping against her rib cage, she heard it start up again and she slowly stood in case she had to run.

She looked at the ground and saw a groundhog not too far from their walker alert system, she grabbed her knife and held it in her hand as she slowly walked over to where the groundhog was. She watched her footing careful to not step on any twigs, she ducked under the string and began walking towards it.

For a split second she felt guilt and remorse for what she was about to do, but, she couldn't keep relying on Daryl to hunt for them. She slowly kneeled and took a deep breath before striking the groundhog, it went quickly without a struggle.

Beth felt guilty now because she kept thinking what if it had a home and a wife and children and it was hunting something to bring back to them almost how it was for her and Daryl minus the children.

She walked back to camp stepping over the string and back into their safety zone, she wasn't really sure on what to do with the groundhog now and she didn't want to waste the meat by learning. She sat back down next to the fire pit and began shining the mirror back on to the sticks.

...

Daryl raised an eyebrow seeing that Beth had killed an animal, he walked over to it and lifted it inspecting it thoroughly. It was a fat one so it probably had a lot of meat, he sat down in front of the fire and took out his knife. He watched Beth winced as he put the knife to the fur. He looked up and over at Beth.

"Ya might wanna turn yer head."

She shook her head." I need to learn." Beth said even though he could see she wigged when she said it.

He nodded."Gut em' first." Daryl said as he gutted the groundhog, he glanced up and saw Beth looking like she was going to puke.

Beth swallowed hard." Then what?"

"Ya let it all drain out, then split up the hind leg an' peel the hide back-"

"Okay just stop please." Beth protested holding her hand up.

"You said ya wanted to learn." Daryl said with amusement to his voice, he was going to give her an A for effort. He watched as she backed away almost into the tent, he couldnt blame her though the stench was getting to him too.

After Daryl finished with the groundhog he cut it up along with the squirrel he hunted, they would have a lot of meat tonight that was certain. He wiped his bloody hands on his pants and Beth handed him the hand sanitizer, she said it was to prevent _bacteria _that will get him sick.

Daryl had to admit it was smart that they grabbed it while on a run, they needed it after messing with meat, who knows what they had before they killed them. And the last thing they needed was for them to get sick, that was mainly why Daryl over cooked the meat.

The fire crackled as the meat cooked, Beth sat in her usual spot but this time she had the old tattered blanket wrapped around her so tight he was sure that the blanket would split in half.

"Guess we can get another blanket soon." He announced.

"Why?" She asked even though she knew why, since they began camping out here he hadn't really wanted to leave for fear someone else could take their camp. She was wondering if he wanted to leave already.

" Aint ya cold?"

"Well yeah, but I didn't think you wanted to leave camp?"

Daryl shrugged." Can't stay here forever."

Beth nodded as she stared at the dark meat cooking in the frying pan, she began to think of where they could go that will be safe enough. She thought of going back to her house but it was probably owned by the dead by now or people, and it would be too painful to see her childhood home without Maggie and her daddy inside.

She sighed as Daryl continued to cook the meat in the frying pan, they had found a metal pan that the used as a frying pan. And Daryl just used a stick and his knife as utensils to handle the meat.

Daryl put an extra amount of meat in Beth's bowl now that they had so much, Beth rolled her eyes at all the meat. Her stomach would be so full now, too full. She couldn't believe how chilly it had gotten in an hour, she sighed once again and gripped the edges of the blanket.

She was handed her bowl of meat that was piled to the top, she began picking at the meat not really wanting to eat anymore or for that matter this much. She saw Daryl doing the same thing.

"Too much?" She questioned.

He nodded but took a piece and began eating it, Beth watched the fire as she chewed her meat slowly. Fall must have been getting _close _she thought as a slight chill went through her body, she shivered slightly.

She began eating the rest of her meat while Daryl finished his in no time, he put the bowl into the back pack and sat back down and began cleaning his arrow's something Beth hadn't seen him do since the prison.

"When are we leaving?" She asked.

He shrugged." When I'm done." He went back to his arrow's and left Beth staring at him questioningly.

He was moody today Beth knew what that meant, she'd just stay out of his way and hope and pray he didn't snap at her like the days before. He seemed to control his anger a bit but sometimes it snuck up on him, but he was entitled.

...

After breakfast her and Daryl packed up their belongings knowing that they most likely wouldn't own their camp when they got back, they started out on a dirt road and ended up on a highway. It was deserted only few cars remained and they looked a mess.

Beth was given back his knife to hold as she walked behind him, if she was caught up in a herd then she'd need something bigger then a pocket knife. Daryl walked in front of her protectively with his crossbow ready in a moments notice.

Beth always lagged behind him a little just to think about stuff, she mainly thought of scenario's that would probably never happen such as seeing Maggie up ahead with Glenn and the others. She'd been thinking like that for 8 months and for 8 months she had been let down, but she still had faith that one day they'd find their group again.

Earlier when they first left camp they stopped at a few houses looking for clothes or blankets and ended finding more then they expected, they found some clothes and a couple blankets and Daryl found a pack of cigarettes and they found a jar of spaghetti O's.

They only took one blanket but it was a thick one that would wrap around the both of them if need be, three blankets just wouldn't fit in their bag they had. Daryl suggested that they just take the bigger one and Beth agreed, she found that sometimes just agreeing with Daryl was easier then arguing.

She picked up the pace a little after realizing just how far she had lagged behind, it wasn't like they were in the woods and she'd get lost they were on a highway were you could see for miles ahead of you. But still she wanted to be close to him for fear that a herd would pop up out of no where.

"So where are we going?" Beth asked as she looked ahead of her, there was a slight haze up ahead so everything was blurry to her as of right now. She looked back over to Daryl and could see the uncertainty on his face.

"Probably find a house or somethin."

Beth nodded and even though he seemed uncertain, it made her worry a little but she had faith that things would be okay. She kept replaying what her daddy said to her when they found the prison _If you don't have hope, then what's the point in living. _

Plus if Daryl said something he usually meant it, they'd find a house and hopefully they would get to stay a few days before having to leave again. She looked over at Daryl as he looked ahead scanning the highway for any potential dangers.

In the past 8 months she had a lot of time to study Daryl as they bounced from place to place and realized that he was really handsome, she knew he was all along but she didn't realize just how handsome until these last few months. She wondered if he thought she was _pretty _or if he even noticed her. She knew she was being naive but she couldn't help but wonder.

...

Okay I tried to keep them in character I think I did a decent job of doing that, I told you the story was different and will only continue to get different LOL I guess that's because I like different instead of the same old. Hope you all enjoyed.

As you can tell this story will begin to pick up the pace a little within the next few chapters, there will probably be a POV soon too.

And If you review please be respectful that's all I ask :) Thanks..


	2. Chapter 2

Okay so** t**his site is giving me a hard time lol so updates will be slower unfortunately.

...

Daryl and Beth found a small house that was surrounded by fields as far as the eye can see, they found it just before a storm was brewing. As soon as they walked in the house it seemed as if the sky opened up. Beth had found the house quite cozy as opposed to Daryl who didn't seem like he enjoyed it much. It was like a necessity to him instead of luxury like Beth felt it was.

She found a couple of books to occupy herself for the night or until she falls asleep, Daryl was busying himself with cleaning his arrows or smoking the new pack of cigarettes he found in a store they raided earlier. He kept watch for a while but since there wasn't any walkers roaming in the rain it seemed pointless.

Beth sat down on the couch and snuggled up with the big wool blanket they found also, it was green and heavy but it was definitely warm as the house had a s_light _draft. The book she was reading was by William Shakespeare and the book itself proved that she would definitely be asleep before she was finished a chapter.

"Whatcha reading?" Daryl asked as he sat back down on the window sill.

Beth turned the book over." Well... Romeo and Juliet."

Daryl snorted." Damn romance novels."

"Their actually not that bad honestly, if you get good quality. Some can be trashy."

Daryl looked up from his arrows surprised that she even knew anything about trashy romance novels, hell he didnt even know anything about trashy romance novels or even romance novels to begin with he just knew they sucked. He shook his head slightly trying to push the thoughts of Beth Greene reading trashy erotic romance novels, she didnt seem like she would be into that. He figured she would be into teenage drama novels where cheerleaders have girly problems, he never expected this.

He continued to keep his guard up but he was relaxing a bit knowing that for now they were safe from walkers, in the two years they've been dealing with walkers they have yet to see them out much in the rain. It was almost like they hibernate. He didn't understand it but he didn't question it either, it was just one of those things were you just accepted it and moved on. He glanced up at Beth and saw that her eyes were beginning to droop but they shot back open, he didn't know why she was fighting sleep all of a sudden.

"I think I'm gonna go to sleep." She announced.

Daryl nodded and watched as she shoved the book into the back pack and began getting comfortable on the green couch that has more cigarette burns then stars in the sky, he wouldn't sleep on that couch but he knew Beth wasn't at all picky, in fact she was very accepting of this whole thing. She accepted the fact that her family was gone and that she only could depend on him and herself from here on out, he didn't know how or why she was so accepting of it as he still had trouble accepting Merle's death.

He watched as she moved around a bit more getting comfortable under the thick blanket, he _guessed _he wasn't going to get much sleep tonight. He grabbed his knife and began cleaning it with his du-rag while listening to the rain tap on the roof and glass, the rain was definitely calming to him. Sometimes after a particularly harsh beating it would storm and it would always make him feel better, the rain would put him to sleep and the thunder spoke to him on so many levels. Sometimes the thunder would be loud enough to drown out the sounds of his dad and the new girl of the week in the other room.

Thunder storms either brought back a flood of painful memories or brought him peace and made him remember how lulling storms were to him as a child and it made him forget for a while the world around him much like he was now, he glanced up and over at the blond and saw she was curled up with the blanket tightly around her tiny body. The blanket was so big though that it was hard to see her under the covers.

"Daryl." Beth mumbled as she sat up." Do you want to go to sleep? I can take watch." She asked.

Daryl shook his head and waved his hand." Go to sleep."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded.

Beth nodded and laid back down and covered herself up with the green blanket that was almost too warm, it almost looked as if it belonged to the military. She wasn't complaining she was happy she had a blanket to cover her up as fall approached rather quickly, if they were still in camp then she would have still been stuck with that tattered old blanket that didn't even help.

She closed her eyes but not before sneaking a glance over at Daryl, he was looking out the window watching she assumed for walkers. She turned her head and began listening to the tapping sound of the rain, it was very _relaxing. _

Daryl decided it was time to do a little exploring if he was going to make it all night without any shut eye, he grabbed his knife leaving his crossbow on the window sill. He walked to the kitchen and closed the door behind him and began raiding through the kitchen quietly so that he didn't wake Beth up, he found a bag of chips, some stale beef jerky, two cigarette's, a lighter and an empty beer can.

He was angry that the house has already been raided but in a way relieved because the people who raided it wouldn't think twice about coming back, he left the bag of chips and the beef jerky on the kitchen table before flicking on his flashlight as he walked to the basement door located right next to the fridge. The door was white with a white handle, he put his hand on it and slowly twisted it to the right then the left before the door opened. Daryl was hit with a blast of cold air which meant that the basement had been locked up for a while.

He slowly walked down the stairs careful to not wake the dead if they happened to lurk around the corner, he shone his light around the room when he got close to the bottom landing. he was never one to be afraid of the dark but it was eerily quiet down here and it looked like the darkness was watching him, he finished walking down the stairs and shone the light on the ground. The floor was wet and muddy. His eyebrows furrowed as he shone the flashlight in the corner of the ceilings to see where the leak could have come from since there was no windows.

"What the hell." he mumbled as there were no visible signs of a leak from the ceiling of the basement, the water was almost like a trail and if he was dumb enough he would have followed it. Something told him not too so he hauled back up stairs muttering curse words.

When he got back upstairs he shut the door and locked it for fear that something was down there and would surprise them, he walked over and noticed the bag of chips were missing. He didn't panic because he knew it was Beth. he grabbed the stale jerky and walked into the living room, he saw her sitting up but under the blanket eating the chips. It was dark in the living room but with the moonlight shining through now that the storm was over he could see her.

"Chips good?" He asked.

Beth shrugged." Stale."

"Wasn't my question though."

"Yeah their good." She breathed a laugh." How's the jerky?"

"Stale."

Beth shook her head with a small smile playing at her lips, he was such a s_martass. _She continued eating the stale salt and vinegar chips while listening to the wind howl just outside, she could tell it was fall just by the wind howling. It had a different sound then summer wind and it made her sad. Fall always made her miss summer before the outbreak, but now it just made her miss her family.

"What are you thinking about?" Beth asked as she watched Daryl gazing out the window.

"Nothin." He replied dryly just as he always did, Beth always hated that and always has ever since they lost the prison. But Daryl couldn't bring himself to tell her what he was thinking, he has never had to tell anyone what he was thinking about until Beth.

"You think we'll ever find them?"

Daryl shrugged." Dunno. Seems like it's been a lot longer then 8 months they might not even be alive, ya sure you've been counting right?"

"What's the difference if it's 8 months or 12, they could still be alive." Beth said with her voice wavering a bit, she was still so hopeful and maybe a tad bit naïve to be. She knew there was a chance that they probably wont be alive but the hope took over her mind and heart and she began to believe again.

"Don't get your hopes too high." He mumbled.

"I will!" Beth bellowed." They are our family, we've been searching for them for the last year we might as well say it's been a year and we're just going to give up hope now when we've had it for so long?"

Daryl snorted." You had the hope, I aint never said I did."

Beth stared at Daryl hoping she wouldn't cry but she felt the tears brimming her eyes, he was losing hope and she was still holding on to it like a fool. Maybe she should just give up like he did and just focus on surviving, but something in Beth's gut is telling her that giving up would be a big mistake and that her sister and everyone else are all still out there.

"Maybe you should have hope." Beth said.

Daryl stared at her wondering how she still has hope after all this time, she was a better person then him that's for sure. She stood up suddenly and walked over to him with his arms folded, she stood next to him and gazed out in the darkness with only the moon providing light. Daryl could see how big her eyes really were. _She was thinkin' about something or Maggie. _

She turned and slowly slid to the floor; she pulled her knees up to her chin and laid her head on them looking towards the kitchen door, Daryl continued to stare at her and occasionally wondering how soft her skin would be under his touch. He wondered what her hair smelled like, he knew that they didn't smell like flowers but he wondered if maybe Beth did. She had such a glow around her that it seemed impossible for anything disgusting to happen to her. He admired that she hid all the bad things that happens to her so well unlike him who didn't know how to hide the stuff.

"Do you believe in Aliens?"

Daryl snorted." Aint like I got much a choice."

"What do you mean?"

"Well never believed in dead people walkin' around." He breathed a small laugh as he glanced out the window, even though there wasn't anything that would harm them from the outside he still felt the need to know just in case. He hated surprises.

Beth smiled and nodded." I know. I've always believed that we were never alone in the universe, it just seemed silly. I used to never believe in Bigfoot but now anything is possible."

Daryl smiled and leaned his head against the wall behind him as he listened to Beth talk about Bigfoot and Aliens, he normally wouldn't let people talk about stuff like that around him because it always bored him to death but nowadays he didn't mind so much. It was almost a sense of normalcy to him. He'd always hear one of Merle's friends 'claiming' that they saw Bigfoot or were abducted by aliens. Then he thought they were high but maybe they weren't.

"I guess anything is possible now." Daryl mumbled.

Beth nodded. "Guess so."

Beth sat there thinking about sleep even though it wouldn't come, she had too much on her mind and she didn't really feel safe in the house but she wouldn't tell Daryl because she isn't so sure that he'd take it lightly he might even be sad that she didn't feel safe. She has never felt safe in this world she always feared every breath she took would be her last and it didn't matter who she was with she'll always feel unsafe. She saw Daryl glance down at her a few times and his glances lingered a while but she pretended not to notice. It was nice to have someone watching her back.

Beth was lost in thought thinking mostly about Maggie and her daddy when Daryl stood up suddenly making her jolt, Daryl looked down at her briefly before he stood completely and began stretching.

"Where are ya going?" She asked.

"Take a piss." he said as he walked down the hallway.

Beth rolled her eyes and climbed up on to the window sill to see what the big fascination was, the only thing worth looking at was the moon anyways, Beth always loved looking out at the moon. It always gave her a chance to just relax and find her inner peace and lately it seemed that it would be most acceptable because she had a lot on her plate then when she was living at the farm and going to school, the moon was an escape back then from the drama of school now it just seemed like an escape.

Daryl walked back out from the bathroom and looked at Beth sitting on the window sill and snorted, he walked over and pushed her feet off and sat down. Beth just stared at him in shock at how rude he was and what was worse is he didn't even seem sorry, he just kept smirking as he looked out the window.

Beth sighed. "So if anything is possible then maybe you'll have hope?" Beth asked even though she knew how naïve she sounded, she didn't care she was determined to make him have hope." You have to stay who you are, not who you were." she reminded.

Daryl stared at her emotionless only because he didn't know what to say, she had a point to stay the man he fought like hell to become. He was a dick before all of this and nobody trusted him or gave him the time of day, before all of this he was nobody. And now he had a place within Rick's group he was important and he knew that or else Rick wouldn't of handed over leadership to him, he wouldn't of trusted him if he was who he used to be. He just doesn't know if he can continue to stay the man he is.

"Guess you'll have to keep me in check."

Beth smiled." Trust me Dixon, I will."

...

Chapter was a little shorter but only because this site is giving me a hard time uploading so bear with me.. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter because the next couple of chapters are probably going to follow a little with the storyline of the show. It will be different but it'll be the same concept :)


	3. Chapter 3

A little bit of fluff this chapter but it's leading up to some dark stuff. More notes at the end. Also not everything is in order, I didn't want it to be exact. :-)

...

A couple of days later Daryl and Beth left the house a little friendlier with each other, Daryl was beginning to find Beth amusing and he enjoyed talking with her and being around her. Beth had planted a bug in his head during a game of 'I never' that she had never shot a crossbow. He wouldn't normally let anyone use his crossbow unless they wanted an arrow up their ass. But Beth was different.

He was a little weary of giving her yet again another item that he possessed but he handed off his bow anyway, she seemed really surprised that he let her too. He wouldn't tell her but he saw her a few days ago admiring it.

"Aint got all day." He mumbled close to her ear. They were practicing with a makeshift target made out of a crumpled paper plate. He had his hands on her waist as she lined up the bow with the paper plate.

"You can let go of me ya know." she said.

Daryl nodded slowly and pulled away from her letting his hands linger longer then they should have, he stood back just and watched as she positioned herself like he taught her, her head slightly tilted to the side, her feet somewhat spread apart. She was a_ quick_ learner that he was certain of. Daryl studied her as she focused on the target. Before they left the house they took turns taking baths, even he needed a bath after a while. He knew he stunk and he didn't want to stink around Beth, to him it just seemed weird.

So Beth's hair was smooth and less knotty and greasy, her skin was clean compared to her clothing which were dirty and torn. Somehow she made the sweater look good. He on the other hand wasn't used to being clean, he'd been dirty for so long that it didn't feel right to him to be clean. He took a few showers at the prison but nothing like the women did, everyday or every other day to him seemed too much. His motto was the dirtier the better, and that goes for everything.

Beth turned around with a smile playing at her lips, he had been so caught up staring at her and admiring her beauty that he forgot she was shooting his bow. He looked towards the target and saw she hit it, he was impressed.

"It's a piece of cake Dixon." Beth said proudly.

"Try reloadin' it then come talk to me." He smirked.

Beth took this as a challenge, she put her foot in the front stirrup as she grabbed the arrow she shot. She grabbed the string and it felt like a ton of bricks; she gritted her teeth as she began to pull, she could feel the skin in her fingers beginning to burn, Daryl made it look so easy when she watched him. She suddenly felt a large pair of hands reach around her and on top of her hands, he began helping her pull back the string, she smiled a little as the feeling of him pressed against her felt somewhat normal. She put the arrow in front of the string. Daryl stood up and Beth stood up with the crossbow, He'll admit sometimes he had trouble reloading his bow but nobody else would do it for him so he had no choice.

She smiled her appreciation before practicing once again, Daryl was making her learn to shoot because he feared that one of these days he wouldn't be alive anymore and he didn't want Beth to not know how to use it. He watched as she got back into formation ready to shoot the target. Daryl watched Beth and began to realize that touching Beth was becoming a habit of his, he couldn't help it though she was so soft and delicate. His mind began to wander into dangerous territory, but every time he saw Beth or she smiled at him he couldn't help his mind going there. It was weird to him because it never happened with any woman of his past.

...

After target practice Daryl let Beth hold on to his bow a while longer, she needed the practice. Besides he liked her carrying his bow, it was...it was nice to him. Something he wasn't used to at all. He watched as she looked closely at the ground, it was muddy but only in patches. It just so happened they were in the muddy patches.

"What're we trackin?" Beth asked looking back at him with her eyes wide.

He shrugged." You tell me." Daryl watched as she looked back to the ground, she bent down a little as she searched it didn't take Daryl long to see the tracks. They were definitely walker tracks but he wanted to see what Beth thought.

Her eyebrows furrowed." Looks like something went through here, the tracks are all zig zaggy." She turned back around to look for his approval almost, she smiled." Must be a walker."

Daryl shrugged again." Or a _drunk_." He played with his stubble on his chin as Beth stood up.

"I'm gettin' good at this, pretty soon I wont need you at all."

Daryl sighed." Yeah.. Keep trackin." He didn't know if he liked that too much, he kind of expected Beth to depend on him and now she was saying she wouldn't need him. He didn't know if he wanted Beth Greene fending for herself and not needing him for things. He didn't think she'd ever grow on him but here he is not wanting her to be independent. That was definitely selfish on his part.

Beth was ahead of him probably feeling pretty confident now that she had his bow, he only had his knife. At least she gave that back. She still held on to his du-rag though, he didn't mind it because it was sort of his peace offering after he acted like a dick to her. Plus it wasn't like they weren't going to come across another one.

He caught up to Beth and watched how focused she was and determined, he hated to admit it but he was proud. She stopped abruptly not enough for concern just curiosity. Up ahead there was a walker feasting on a dead animal of some kind, Beth looked a little worried but Daryl nudged her to go ahead. He took out his knife just in case, but he was confident she'd kill it. She looked at him and he jutted out his chin towards the _filthy son of a bitch, _She nodded and slowly began walking towards it.

Daryl watched her like a hawk as she crept up slowly, suddenly she went down and his whole world stopped as the walker stood up. He bolted towards her just as she shot the walker in the neck, he snatched the bow and wacked the walker in the face. He turned and ran back towards Beth sliding like he was in baseball, he pulled the trap off of Beth's ankle and carefully lifted her foot up.

"Can ya move it?"

She wiggled it slowly." Yeah." She said her voice wavering a bit.

Daryl stood up and lent down his hand, she grabbed it and slowly stood. She stumbled a little as her foot began to throb, Daryl caught her with an arm around her waist.

"Ya alright?" He asked.

She nodded quickly and stood up straight, no way was Daryl letting her go now she was too injured. He kept a firm grip around her waist as they made their way through the woods, she whimpered a few times as she applied unnecessary pressure to her foot.

"How long do you think before it heals?" She asked.

"Couple a days maybe, gotta get ya off it first."

She sighed." Another camp?"

"Gonna try for something bigger this time." he mumbled.

Beth smiled through the pain, Daryl was being so sweet to her even if he wouldn't admit it. His grip around her tightened as they came to an opening in the thick Georgia forest. They stood before a graveyard that was neatly kept, Beth glanced around at the headstones; they seemed the most at peace right now. She looked at Daryl and adverted her eyes to where his was fixated and saw a house up ahead, she wondered if people were inside.

"Can we stop here a sec." She hissed as pain shot through her leg. She tried to sit down but the ground was soggy and muddy and she didn't want to have a wet bottom and Daryl's arm that was wrapped around her waist didn't budge. she watched as he let go and put his bow around the front of him and bent his knees a little, she was confused.

"What are you doing?"

Daryl wiggled his fingers." Hop on."

Beth snickered." Are you serious?"

"Yeah a serious piggy back." He wiggled his fingers again indicating for Beth to hurry up, she shuffled towards his back and put her hands on his shoulders." Jump on." He said. She complied and hopped on his back, Daryl huffed.

"Heavier then ya look." He muttered.

"What if there are people?" Beth ignored his statement about her weight as concern filled her, if there were people would they accept them into their group or shun them? She hoped they would at least accept them for a night.

"Then I'll take care of them." Daryl said.

Beth sighed." Well what if they are good people?"

"Aint no good people anymore. All the good people are dead."

Beth rolled her eyes as they continued walking through the graveyard, she turned her head and focused on a headstone that read _beloved father _Daryl had stopped and she hopped down and stood there staring. Daryl put some dead flowers on top; it was a nice gesture to her. He backed up and stood next to her without a word, she intertwined their fingers together and leaned towards him. She felt him squeeze her hand and his thumb rubbing small circles along her skin, it felt almost normal to be standing with him holding hands. In a way she almost forgot about the dangers that surrounded them.

"C'mon." Daryl said breaking the comfortable silence, she sighed and nodded even though she wanted to stand there a little while longer. But he must have been worried with evening just around the corner and them still outside and the house possibly not safe, so she hopped on his back again and they began walking towards the colonial house.

His fingers lightly dug into her thighs and his thumbs were rubbing circles, they were almost barely noticeable and she would have thought it was her imagination but sometimes you just have to go with your gut feeling and she felt that he was rubbing her hand and thighs. She smiled and leaned her chin on his shoulder.

They got up to the house and Daryl slowly let her off his back, Beth landed on her one good foot a little harder and a pain shot up in her leg. She didn't mention it so she let the pain wear off which it did after a while. He opened the door and banged against the wall and made a low whistle careful in case walkers lurked in the trees that surrounded the house.

"Give it a minute." He said. Beth peered around and waited just as Daryl was, after a couple minutes of nothing they finally walked in. She shut the door behind them as Daryl searched around the lower level.

"This is nice." Beth announced as she looked at the painting behind her.

Daryl walked up behind her and put his hand on her shoulder, she turned and saw him staring at her then the painting of a bunch of daises in a brown woven basket. Beth smiled and he nodded his head to follow her. He began walking towards an arch way which lead to the basement which was actually a morgue as they made their way cautiously down the stairs, Beth limped as she walked down the winding stair case. She gripped the wall for support as there weren't any railings. Daryl stood off to the side staring at the body laying on the table; it was a decaying corpse, half the mans face was of bone and hanging flesh. Beth for some reason thought it was beautiful.

"Looks like someone ran outta dolls to dress up." Daryl joked as she looked around.

"I think it's beautiful." Beth defended." Whoever did this cares." She said and watched as Daryl looked down almost as if he was ashamed that he had a difference of opinion.

Daryl thought he was an idiot for thinking it was odd, he shouldn't have said anything but something was off here. Only the weirdo's would care about making up dead people to look like humans, but he felt bad that he went against what Beth thinks is beautiful. _Should he think it was beautiful too? _

"Don't you think it's beautiful?" Beth asked him. She didn't get a response though but a lingering stare that seemed to captivate her in a way; he walked over to her his eyes still glued to her face. He gently moved her out of the way and bent down to open the cabinet that she was blocking, he found something useful to wrap her ankle with.

"Lets get that ankle wrapped." He said. Beth moved back to the counter and put her hands behind her to support her as Daryl took a hold of her leg and carefully removed her worn boot and her sock, she hissed as the little movement that took place irritated the dark bruising that had formed on her ankle.

"It got ya good."

"Yeah it hurts too." Beth hissed again.

Daryl took her heel and began wrapping her foot from the heel up to her toes, she had a small birthmark on her ankle and then he found another as he tied the wrap at her toes. It was on her middle toe. Oddly enough it fit Beth. When he finished he helped put her boot back on after she struggled, he was more then happy to help her. And _Happy _being the key word.

He felt happy around her.

...

"I'm goin' as fast as I can."

"Not fast enough." He muttered as he swooped her up bridal style, she giggled as he pushed the door open with his boot. She noticed he had the peanut butter, jelly and two cola's sitting on the table with some utensils they found earlier, he carried her to the chair on the other side of the table closest to the counters. He sat her in it and she blushed feeling a bit foolish.

"So cola and peanut butter for dinner." She smiled as she grabbed the two liter bottle and untwisted the cap. She took a long sip savoring the taste of something she was sure she'd never get to taste ever again.

"Here." Daryl handed her the peanut butter and a spoon, she smiled her thanks and Daryl nodded and took a seat across from her on the other side of the table with his back towards the door." Shits good." He said as he untwisted the jelly jar. he grabbed a spoon and began spooning the jelly into his mouth.

Beth raised her eyebrows." Well since your hands were already in it, the jelly can be yours."

He smirked." Fine by me."

Beth smiled and took another sip of the cola, she never was a big soda fan since it always used to break her skin out. Occasionally though she would drink it but she preferred water or juice, it was healthier for your skin and her grandmother always used to say it _cleans your system._

"And the pigs feet." She muttered.

"Hm?" Daryl asked as he was too invested in the jelly.

Beth huffed." I said and the pigs feet."

"Why too scared to eat em?"

"Never was a big fan of feet." It was true Beth had a slight problem with feet, she guessed it was called a phobia. She had a hard time painting her toes just because toes freaked her out, she changed a bit when Judith was born.

"Well ya kinda have no choice there."

Beth nodded and shrugged as she continued to eat the peanut butter, it'd been so long since she had some that she didn't think she could stop eating. It was too scarce to pig out on it, so she would eat a little now and a little later. She was just worried she wouldn't be able to follow her rule. She put down the jar and took a sip of the cola.

"Was thinkin' I could put up those hub caps laying on the ground, kinda gives us warning ya know."

Beth nodded." You need any help?"

"Nah M'good, plus ya aint going anywhere, ya need to rest."

"Yes Mr. Dixon." She sassed to herself as she shoved her last scoop of peanut butter for now into her mouth.

Daryl finished off two more scoops of jelly before he closed the lid, he'd finish later. He stood up and wiped his hands on his pants, shouldered his bow and gave Beth a faint nod before walking through the hallway.

Beth heard the door open then shut, she sighed to herself. _Maybe they could stay here a while._ She knew how stupid she sounded but right now it seemed perfect, living in a cemetery seemed peaceful. She stood up slowly and began using the wall for support as she walked around the house. The house was definitely a colonial the stair case let alone proved it. She glanced at some of the pictures on the wall of some people back from the fifties and sixties, she found herself standing in front of a sitting room or in this case a viewing room. There were chairs sitting in rows and an open coffin, but that was the least of her worries. The piano caught her attention; she hadn't played in years.

Her fingers began pressing on the keys, her voice found its way soon after. She hadn't sung in a while but didn't miss a beat. She wished she could say the same for her playing, she hadn't played a piano since before the outbreak. But that was okay she wasn't supposed to be perfect, her daddy always drilled that into her and Maggie's head's. He always said they were perfect the way that they were.

Daryl walked back into the house half expecting to see Beth eating the peanut butter still, but instead he got an earful of her singing. He hadn't heard her sing since the prison, sure she hummed a lot but it wasn't as great as her singing. He followed her voice to a sitting room that was being used as a viewing room, he stared at Beth as he leaned against the door frame. He didn't know the song and didn't care. He stared for a good couple of minutes before he cleared his throat, she stopped playing and turned around with a smile on her face. he set his crossbow down on one of the chairs and walked over to the coffin, he stood in front of it with his hands behind him bracing himself earning him a face from Beth.

"What're you doing?"

He smirked as he hoisted himself up into the coffin." Comfiest bed I had in years."

"Really?"

He nodded." Keep singing." He found himself asking. Maybe he could relax a little more if she sang while he closed his eyes for a minute or two.

"Thought my singing annoyed you?" She asked.

"Well I aint got no juke box, so..." he looked up at the ceiling then back to Beth who rolled her eyes as she turned back around and began singing, he didn't understand why he was feeling this way and he didn't care to find the deeper meaning, he was enjoying every minute of it.

...

Night was in full swing when Beth finished, she convinced Daryl to explore the upstairs of the house. He reluctantly agreed and they found a couple of bedrooms two of which had a bathroom that connected the two rooms. One of the rooms had twin beds and the other had a full size bed, Beth insisted they take the room with the twin beds. Daryl didn't disagree because her reasoning made a good point to him, they shouldn't be too far apart from each other just in case something were to happen.

"We can put the dresser in front of the door?" Beth suggested as Daryl tried the lock on the door, it wasn't working and Daryl was getting frustrated. Beth didn't like when he was frustrated, she liked him calm.

"What If we gotta get out? Gonna have a hell of a time."

Beth put her hands on her hips." Well why would we need to leave, nothing is going to come from the window right. We're worried about what could come in."

"Smartass." He mumbled as he turned towards the dresser." Alright then we'll use the dresser." He walked to the other side and pushed the dresser in front of the door with no problem.

Beth walked over to the bed and plopped down, she was exhausted from hunting and tracking to stepping in a bear trap, then the excitement of finding the house and food and now sleeping on a bed that they haven't been lucky enough to enjoy this past year.

Daryl walked to the bathroom door and opened it cautiously, he walked over to the other door and locked it and then tested it to see if it will hold. When it did he relaxed a bit and walked out, he saw Beth laying on the bed playing with her hair that spilled over her shoulder. He shrugged off his bow and leaned it against the wall then his vest, he hung it up on the hanger just above. He walked over to the other bed which he was sure was his since Beth claimed hers already.

"Get some sleep." Daryl suggested.

"What if the owners come back?"

Daryl shrugged." We'll make a deal with them, don't worry 'bout it will ya just go to bed." Beth giggled peeking his interest, he turned around and saw she was staring at him with a smile on her face." What?" He questioned.

"You're such a grouch."

Daryl relaxed knowing she wasn't laughing at him, just his grouchiness which he couldn't deny. He shook his head and laid back on the bed with his hand on his stomach and one behind his head, Beth propped herself up using her elbow as she stared over in Daryl's direction.

"Why ya keep lookin' at me?"

Beth shrugged." I dunno cant I just look without a reason?"

Daryl blushed and leaned over to the night table and blew out the candle, Beth laid back with a small huff and stared at the ceiling as the darkness enveloped them. She could hear Daryl getting comfortable in the next bed over making the bed squeak, she sighed and rolled over facing away from him. She was trying to figure him out, she knew what he was like but didn't know why he was acting so sweet and kind to her. It couldn't of just been because of her ankle; he started when they left the house. She wouldn't dwell on it too much because it was nice to have someone, especially someone like Daryl actually be nice to her.

...

Okay so as you can tell I've followed the plot from the show for the most part, now I'm getting into what I think should have happened before that horrible thing that happened to Beth. Next chapter we'll get into the rest of what the show had shown us in Alone and some darker things as well. Let me know what you all think, the next couple of chapters after the next will most likely be different from the story because I don't like to follow along with the show. Hope you all liked this chapter as much as I loved writing it especially the little things that we didn't get to see :-)

There will most likely be a Beth POV next chapter. Also the chapters containing Beth POV's might be a tad bit dark. I'll warn you depending on how bad it actually is. No rape or anything that much I will say, but there might be references to it. But like I said I'll warn you before hand.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello guys I just want to thank everyone who followed and reviewed this story, you guys are so awesome! Thank you to my Guest viewer (you know who you are) you are pretty much on the same lines as what I plan on doing next in a few chapters and in this one :-) I'm super excited because after this chapter and even in this chapter things will be super different and more exciting. Half of this chapter will be a Beth POV chapter, I wont do them often but I will again for Daryl in the next chapter. I just want to get down what they are feeling from their perspectives and what better way then a POV. So enjoy!

...

Beth woke to a slight chill and the sound of shuffling, her eyes cracked open and it was still dark in the bedroom. She rolled over on to her other side and saw Daryl sitting on the window sill smoking a cigarette with the window slightly opened, her vision was a little blurry but she rubbed them ridding them of sleep and her vision was back. Her eyes zeroed in on Daryl, she watched as his eyes flickered to the ash tray sitting next to his knee. She watched as he reached his arm over, she watched as the ash tray fell to the floor and shattering in a thousand pieces. She heard Daryl sputter a couple curses and she tried hard not to laugh.

"Sorry." He muttered as he glanced over at her.

"How'd you know I was awake?"

He snorted." Saw ya staring at me."

Beth blushed as she stood up and walked over to him to help clean up the broken ash tray, this would the first time nobody was going to tell her not to pick up the glass because it was sharp. It hit her that she was an orphan. Her heart felt empty and her stomach was in knots, she never thought her daddy would be gone so soon. She knelt down slowly and hissed when a sharp pain went through her knee. Daryl looked up as she stood up, blood was soaking through her jeans and the piece of glass was sticking out.

"Jesus Christ Beth." Daryl said as he jumped up, he walked into the bathroom and grabbed a wash cloth and began looking through the medicine cabinet looking for bandaids.

"I'm fine Daryl." Beth tried to assure.

Daryl snickered." Yeah okay with a piece of glass stickin' outta your knee?" He walked back into the bedroom holding a bandage and a wash cloth, he directed Beth to the foot of the bed and knelt down." Don't ya have any sense to be careful?" He questioned harshly and instantly realizing it.

Beth tried to fight back the tears, she wasn't thinking straight after realizing that she wouldn't be told not to pick up the glass. A similar incident happened a week ago with an alcohol outing. She hissed as Daryl pulled out the piece of glass that was imbedded in her knee, blood spurted out and Daryl pressed the wash cloth on to the wound. He sat against the foot of the bed and put her leg over his shoulder so he could put as much pressure on her knee as possible to stop the bleeding.

"Relax your leg." He commanded as he lifted it.

"How do I do that?"

Daryl sighed." Jus' lay back on the bed and don't be so tense." He watched as Beth nodded and laid back, he pulled his knee up and set her leg on his knee to give his arm a break while his other pressed on the wound.

"Daryl?" Beth whispered.

"Hm?"

Beth took a deep breath." You don't plan on leavin' me do ya?" She didn't know why but she dreamt that he left her to fend for herself. She was glad when she woke up and realized it was just a dream, she was however a little upset with him and that's why she took to staring at him making sure he was _real. _

"Why ya thinking about shit like that, I aint gonna leave you." He grumbled.

"Sorry I just... I dunno." She trailed off and kept her gaze on the ceiling." What time is it?"

"Like four. Why?"

Beth shrugged." Because I'm still tired." she took a deep breath and focused on the fact that Daryl was now rubbing his thumb on her calf, she couldn't help the smile that tugged at her lips.

...

Beth must have fallen asleep because when she woke up the sun was shinning and the glass on the floor was picked up, she gazed down at her knee and saw it was bandaged up. The dresser wasn't in front of the door anymore but Daryl's knife was on top and so was a note, she slowly stood careful to not irritate her swollen ankle. She limped over to the dresser and picked up the note that looked as if it was written in chicken scratch. Beth smiled.

_Fixed breakfast, aint much but it's something._

_Come down to the kitchen when your up,_

_got something too that ya might like._

Beth was curious now, if she could run she would. She grabbed his knife and sheath and began her decent down the stairs one by one now that she has two injuries. She could hear some shuffling in one of the rooms and it peeked her interest, she did however have a wave of fear run through her thinking that it wasn't Daryl, but it was short lived when she saw him leaning over riffling through some box.

"Morning." Beth said as she stepped on to the landing.

Daryl looked up." Mornin." He replied before digging through the box again, Beth walked over as curiosity peeked even more. She walked over but Daryl stuck his hand out for her to wait, she smirked and tilted her head to the side.

"Um what?"

"Hold on a sec." He stood up and showed her some jewelry that was left in a box." Dunno if any of it's real but I figured your a girl an' girls like jewelry so..." He trailed off realizing how stupid he sounded, Beth wouldn't want any of it. But when he saw her smile he knew it wasn't stupid. He jiggled the necklace in his pocket trying to figure out when he wanted to give it to her, he wasn't quite sure. He wanted it to be after breakfast or maybe later tonight.

"Daryl these are real." She gasped as she picked up a diamond ring and put it on her finger." How could someone just leave all of this here, I mean someone could steal these."

"Not like it matters." He mumbled.

"Well it kind of does, good people wouldn't steal."

Daryl felt his face grow hot as he realized he was about to steal a necklace for Beth, technically it wasn't stealing because it was just one thing and it was for someone with a good heart that was big enough for everyone, beautiful, smart, perfect in his eyes. But Maybe he was just trying to convince himself that it was okay that she was an exception because she deserved it after everything she has been through.

"Ya hungry?" He asked.

Beth smiled." Yeah a little." She used the wall to stand up. She thought it was cute that he _wrote_ her a note, it was kind of like high school all over again. She shuffled towards the kitchen and pushed open the door and saw a box of cereal two water bottles and some cookies, Beth could have screamed with excitement.

"Didn't know if this was a proper breakfast." He joked." Figured I put a box a cereal in the mix an' it'd be a good breakfast." He helped Beth to her seat then sat down in his own seat and began opening the package of chocolate chip cookies.

...

**Beth POV:**

I couldn't help but wonder why Daryl went through all of this trouble to fix up a breakfast that consisted of coco puffs, chocolate chip cookies and some assorted candies in a small dish. It was almost like he tried to make a perfect breakfast for the two of us. I am just a bit confused not really knowin' why he is going all out, was he really happy around me? Or was he just tryin' to make the best out of the situation we are in? I took a mouthful of coco puffs.

"So are we staying here a while?" I asked.

He shrugged." If ya want."

"Well what if the owners come back and see us living here stealing all their food?" I knew I was asking too many questions but I was curious, I watched as his eyes darted all around the room almost like he was trying to get information from different objects. He finally shrugged.

"Then I'll take care of it." he replied before going back to his cookies. They looked a little gross to me, but then again I've seen him eat worse. I didn't want to tell Daryl that he was the one that might of been a bit naïve thinking that the owners would just kindly accept us. I know for a fact he wouldn't like that too much if the roles were switched.

I watched as he ate a few more cookies before taking big gulps of his water, I was wondering about why he seemed to care about the Jewelry so much and why he was asking if it were real or not. It didn't bother me if he stole some of it; he was right it wasn't like it really mattered, it wasn't like the police were going to come in and arrest him for it and throw him in jail. I just thought maybe reminding him to be _ who he is and not who he was, _was a better solution.

I was getting full now and now that the excitement of a sugary breakfast was over and the finding of the jewelry, I was getting bored. Daryl was probably just as equally bored as I was, but, he got to go out hunting and because of my ankle I couldn't until it healed properly. I heard the hub caps that we used as our alert system beginning to move, it didn't sound like the wind blowing it either. I watched as Daryl peered out the window.

"Jus' a damn dog, stay in here." He said as he walked out of the kitchen into the entrance way, I was curious to see a dog since I haven't seen one in god knows how long so I slowly stood up and made my way towards the main entrance, I walked through the door and saw Daryl knelt down reaching out for the dog. But the dog ran away instead. He stood up and turned around after shutting the door.

"Thought I told ya to stay back?"

I smiled at him." Daryl you said there was a dog."

"He ran off, but maybe he'll come back." He put his hand on my shoulder and guided me back to the kitchen.

I sat back down in the chair where I felt I had no choice but to be in here, I was in for a very day and night. But Daryl's behavior was interesting to watch, he was acting like he was hidin' something from me or was really nervous about something, was it the dog? Because he didn't look the least bit nervous or like he even cared about the dog.

He finally sat down and began delving into the pigs feet, they stunk to me that's why I didn't eat them. But I kinda really didn't like feet. They of course were a necessity but still they were weird to me. There was a loud bang and it made me jump, Daryl jumped up and looked back out the window. I grabbed Daryl's knife that was strapped to my hip and held it as he peered out the window.

"What is it Daryl?"

He held up his finger and shushed me, I probably would have yelled at him but seeing it seemed like whatever was outside posed as a threat I kept quiet. I watched as he walked slowly almost like he was tracking something. I couldn't even hear him walking that's how quiet he was which meant either walkers or the owners were outside, My heart began racing.

I heard him open the door then a loud thud, I jumped up with my hand instinctively going to the knife. I slowly walked towards the kitchen door and walked up to it peering out slowly, I saw Daryl laying on the floor and my eyes instantly welled up with tears. I didn't know if I should go out there for fear someone would see me and hurt me too, but Daryl needed me. So I pushed open the door and slowly walked out into the entrance, Daryl was sprawled out flat on his back. I ran over to him and began tapping his face.

"Daryl." I whispered frantically." Daryl wake up!" I snapped hoping it'd work, his eyes shot open quickly and his eyes locked with mine and I was so happy he was awake that I hadn't heard someone was coming up behind me until I... Until I felt a hand wrap around my mouth.

...

Daryl's first reaction seeing Beth being dragged away from him was pure fear, then his head hurt like hell and his vision blacked out for a second. _Get it together Dixon! _He internally yelled at himself, he did eventually even though his head protested. He ran up on a walker walking towards him and he stopped a millisecond and wacked the once man in the head before running off towards the road.

When he got to the road he noticed something shining on the ground, he knelt down quickly and grabbed it. It was her heart necklace. He heard a car start and whipped his head to his right and saw a car taking off down the road, it had a white cross on the back window. Before his mind could process what was happening he was running after it screaming for Beth.

He ran all that afternoon until evening fell, he was _numb. _Physically, mentally and emotionally. He lost her. Just like he loses everyone, he collapsed on the ground as his lungs burned like he was on fire, his limbs felt like jelly and his head hurt like someone was hammering it. He sat there staring at the ground that was covered in leaves and pine cones, he couldn't move. He didn't want to move.

His stomach was in knots, his heart felt heavy and was still hammering against his rib cage, he had a lot of time to think about what went wrong. Why didn't he grab his bow when he walked to the door, why didn't he tell Beth to stay in the kitchen. Why didn't he wake up sooner.

He heard a scream and his head spun as he whipped his head up, he looked around and stood up quickly with his bow ready. He heard a scream again and his heart pounded, his stomach hurt like hell as the knots grew even more as he thought the worst. _Was it Beth? _He began walking even though he didn't want to walk, he wanted to sleep forever. If he could sleep.

Up ahead he saw two people fighting off some walkers, he ran towards them shooting the closest walker towards him. He went for his knife but realized Beth had it, he had a brief moment to mourn that before another walker was coming towards him. He shoved it to the ground and quickly stomped on its head, the girl screamed again when a walker lunged for her. Her companion stabbed the walker in the head just as it was getting ready to take a bite out of her neck.

She pushed the walker off of her and the man lent down his hand for her, she took it and stood up. He began checking her for scratches and or bites. Daryl looked down for a second as his head begun to spin, he wanted Beth back. The man cleared his throat and Daryl looked up.

"Thanks... For helping."

Daryl nodded.

"I'm Steven, that's my girl Maria."

"Daryl." he mumbled.

He really didn't want to have to relive the whole story of how he was knocked out then woke up and watched Beth be dragged away from him, he couldn't bear to hear what they would have to say about him losing her.

"So where are you from?" the girl asked.

Daryl looked up and their eyes locked." Uh... around."

"You have a group?" Steven asked.

Daryl shook his head no.

"So you are out here all by yourself?" Maria asked.

Daryl nodded still keeping his gaze anywhere but on Maria or Steven, he couldn't tell them about Beth or Rick and the others. Definitely not Beth. Not yet anyways, it just wasn't time. He didn't know these people from the man and the moon and wasn't going to volunteer any information unless they ask about Beth which he's sure they wont, unless they know about her already. But that was _slim_.

"Do you wanna hang with us for a while, we could use a guy like you around when shit gets sticky." Steven breathed a small laugh." So what do ya say Daryl, you with us or no? I mean it's really no biggy if your not."

Daryl thought about it a minute and realized that he's been with people ever since the start of this whole mess, he wasn't sure he would like being alone he didn't already. He knew he didn't know them that well but he didn't sense that they were bad, just trying to survive like he was. It wouldn't hurt to be around people, maybe they could even help him find Beth once he got to know them more. He knew it was ridiculous but he had to find Beth. So He nodded.

"Yeah." he replied.

Steven smiled." Cool. Were headed to a place called Terminus, you seen the signs for it?"

"Nah I haven't."

Maria grabbed Steven's hand and Daryl was hit with the memory of Beth's hand inside his, their fingers intertwined together with such grip. His head hurt _badly _thinking about Beth, she was all he had and now he let her get kidnapped. He walked behind them with his head down, he watched the ground as he walked. he kept seeing Beth with every step, it was the facial expression he saw last and it pained him. His heart felt even heavier, he actually wanted to cry. But he couldn't he was still so numb, but he had a slimmer of hope. Maybe Terminus is where she was.

He wasn't even sure she was but he could always go there with these people then set out everyday until he found her, and then he'd bring her back and he'd give her the necklace he wanted to give to her. It was still in his pocket entangled with her heart necklace that he found on the ground, did she purposely rip her necklace off for him to see? Or did it fall off and it just so happened he found it? He had so many questions that he wanted answered now, he needed everything to be resolved. He wanted Beth and he never realized just how much until he saw that man dragging her away.

...

A few things here: It's definitely different from the show but the same concept, I introduced two people Steven and Maria but can they be trusted is the question.

- Do you think they know about Beth and where she is?

- Do you think he should trust them?

How did you all like the Beth POV? should I continue with them just keep them minimal?

Anyways I actually enjoyed writing this chapter a lot, and re-reading it was fun too. Hope you all enjoy this chapter as well, I'll try to update both stories close together from now on. Anyways I'd love to hear your input on the POV's and Steven and Maria, and of course the chapter :-)


	5. Chapter 5

**There will be a rape scene but it wont be graphic because it is nothing to write about honestly, but that stuff happens especially in the apocalypse so it had to be done, if you do not want to read this then skip this chapter but it is important. I'm writing in bold so it's clear, I don't want people angry or surprised. Heads up though just so you all don't get upset and unfollow me or the story, it's not Beth. So don't panic. But it will still have a significance a little later down the line.**

It might not be the best of chapters, but it's a Daryl chapter so It's kind of important. Slight teaser at the end..

...

Daryl, Steven and Maria found a small store that they decided to hunker down in for the night, there wasn't much inside but a can of spam and some crackers. That would most likely be dinner tonight if nothing else was found, Daryl was searching out the area hoping and praying that maybe there was a sign of Beth here. But sadly he was wrong, in fact there was no sign of life...Human life that is.

He sat down by the window while Steven and Maria made eyes at each other, Daryl was conducting a plan in his head to leave sometime after they go to sleep since he volunteered for watch. He wanted to get out there and go back the way he came and start searching for Beth, he was hoping that she maybe is on foot now. He hoped that she got away from whoever took her. If not they are in for a rude of awakening when he finds her, even though he's not sure she's alive anymore.

He missed her although it was hard even admitting it to himself, he was replaying everything that had happened in the last 24 hours and he felt he was definitely to blame for this. If she's dead it's his fault, there was no debating on it. He might as well killed her himself. He should have grabbed her or at least of taken a shot at the guy dragging her away from him. He looked up at the ceiling as tears threatened his eyes, _why did this always happen to him?_

"You sure you wanna be on watch?" Maria asked.

Daryl nodded."M'alright."

She stared at him almost like she was reading him, he felt weird having someone look at him the way she was. Hell even Beth knew better. He turned his head and began gazing out into the darkness, he was maybe hoping that he'd see Beth coming out of the darkness and he'd be ridden of the immense guilt that was weighing on his shoulders.

"Was she pretty?"

_What the fuck? _He looked over at Maria and saw she was directing the question towards him, was she pretty? Daryl couldn't even describe how pretty she was, she was breath taking. He couldn't help but nod, but how did she know he was thinking of Beth?

She smiled." So it is a girl that's got your head all fuzzy." She chuckled as she stood up, she walked to the window that was boarded up and peered out of the small hole that was provided. She turned back around towards him and flipped her hair to the other side and squatted down in front of him.

"What was her name?"

Daryl looked up at her and noticed that she wasn't taunting him, she really was curious." Beth." He choked out, he quickly looked down to his lap. He didn't know why but he felt like crying, just saying her name made him weak. She was all he had and now she was gone and the only thing he had was memories. He looked up at her when he noticed that she was still lingering, her look was more haunted now almost as if she was sympathizing his situation. He didn't want her pity, he didn't want anyone's pity. She continued staring at him almost like she was reading him, quite frankly he wanted her to stop.

"I-Is she de-"

"NO!" He snapped.

He stood up quickly and walked over to the window that Maria was just at, it wasn't that he wanted to look out the window because he could do that from where he was, He needed to walk away from the conversation. It wasn't that he didn't want to talk about Beth, it's just he couldn't talk about her. He now knew what it was like to lose someone you care about, not just someone you enjoy being around but someone who embedded themselves in your heart. As many walls as he built up over the years starting when he was a small child, it took Beth 8 months to finally break them and bury herself so deep in his heart that being with her made the world a lot less ugly. Then her kidnapping made him realize that it hadn't changed.

"Daryl." Steven began." I'm sorry about Beth, but you cant let it eat you up."

Daryl snorted." Ya don't understand!"

Steven held up his hands like he was surrendering." And I don't claim to understand anything, I'm just saying if you let whatever happened to her get to you...Your a dead man."

Daryl's jaw clenched as he tried to process what Steven was saying to him, trying hard not to deck him in the face. He knew if he didn't find her he'd be a dead man because Maggie would kill him, _if _she was alive.

"I aint a dead man." Daryl said dryly as he looked down." It's my fault anyways."

"What happened, if you don't mind me asking?"

Daryl shrugged and looked down tears pricking his eyes, it was time now that he admitted to them. If he didn't and went to a sanctuary without Beth he'd feel like he was doing a disservice to her, he had to search for her before he went to this place. It was only right. At least if he didn't find her and went to this place he could always say he tried, but if he doesn't try then that excuse is irrelevant.

"Some guy kidnapped her." He looked down sucking in his breath." He knocked me out an' when I came too, he was draggin' her away. Took off in a car an' I chased after it for a while before I found you guys."

Steven sighed."Ah man, I'm sorry."

Daryl shrugged. Mainly because that's all he could do, it wasn't like they were married or anything. But she was the only person left from the original group and he was growing to like her as a friend. At least he _thinks _it was friendly. He's not good with all the emotions yet, he'd just started learning what all his emotions were and now he's just numb. Numb like before when he'd lost Merle. But Beth was different, he was numb and he wanted to kill.

"We could look for her." Maria said as she stood." I mean we could go back to where the car took off or where you last saw the car and we could try and track it?" She shrugged and shoved her hands in her pockets.

"Maria's right, it wouldn't hurt to try Daryl. I mean if she's that important to you, You'll do anything to get her back. I know I would if it was Maria."

Daryl looked down to the ground, he knew he had to try and with the help of more people it might be a hell of a lot easier then just him. He'd have six eyes instead of two searching for clues of her whereabouts, he slowly nodded not daring to look up as his eyes pooled with tears.

...

**Daryl POV:**

The next morning I was leadin' them down the road that I saw the car take off down, it was a hard pill to swallow that was for sure. Right now she'd probably tell me to have a little _faith _and I'd probably say something smart earning one of her glares. I realized I was smiling, how can I be smiling in a situation like this? Was it that faith an' hope she was talkin' about? Was thinkin' about Beth Greene believing? I was confused. Aint never had no hope or Faith so I wouldn't know it if it bit me in the ass.

I thought back to last night when I was remembering how we were in the funeral home, I couldn't help but think that maybe I was so caught up in the moment and thought playing house with her was the ideal thing when in reality it was a dumb idea cause if it seems too good to be true it probably is, I shoulda listened to my gut but I wanted a life an' I kinda liked the idea of starting one with her. At first I had a hard time with it, but after a while I really liked the idea. Now that idea's fucked.

I always do this though, I get so attached to people an' they either leave or they get taken away from me an' I aint got no say. I wanted this to be some really screwed up dream an' I'd wake up in the bed and find Beth next to me in the other bed quietly snoring. An' to make matters worse was that Steven and Maria were holding hands...Again. Makin' me sick.

"So uh was Beth your girlfriend?" Maria asked me. If she wasn't a woman I'd smack her, No Beth wasn't my girlfriend she was just a girl that was my friend. For some reason though the thought of her actually bein' my girl put a blush on my face. I could always lie though so they wouldn't ask questions about why she was with me. I slowly nodded.

"Yeah."

She smiled." We'll find her Daryl, just have to be patient."

I didn't know why I lied the way I did maybe I felt better telling a lie then the truth, after all my whole lie was built up on lying. Chances of us finding her are slim anyways so it really was no big deal.

Up ahead I saw some sign wasn't sure what it was for but when I got close I read it, _those who arrive, survive. _It sounded really familiar. Then it dawned on me that I heard this before, the day we went to the school for medicine. It was broadcasted over the radio. Maria read it out loud again and for some reason I got a burst of hope, maybe Beth was there.

"Guess this is the way to go." She said.

I nodded not really acknowledging that I'd be going to a place of sanctuary without Beth, I'd probably run into Maggie and have to tell her. That's if she was even alive anyways.

We started down the tracks the opposite direction that me and Beth were headed only a couple months before, hell even a couple weeks ago. I kept lookin' back probably to see if maybe she'd come out of no where and then everything would be okay, an' I could give her the necklace that I wanted to give her. But maybe that was my punishment for stealing, maybe I shoulda listened to her and just stayed away. I just couldn't not give her something, I mean with everything she's been through then havin' to spend a year on the road all alone with me probably was tough as hell. I had to give her something.

I put my hand in my pocket and jiggled the necklaces around making sure they were still in my pocket, I wanted to make sure they didn't slip out somehow. I didn't know the outcome of this Terminus place but I was willing to give it a shot, my thoughts were interrupted when Maria said something about a car. I looked up quickly and there staring me in the face was that damned car with the cross on the back. Before anyone could say anymore I bolted towards the car, maybe she was inside. Suddenly I had so much faith she was in the car.

I ran to the car and jerked open the door only to find out it was empty, except her sweater. My whole body went numb again almost like last time. She must of put up a fight, why else would it be... I clutched the sweater in my hands making it bunch. I swear if they even touched one hair on her head I was gonna kill the son of a bitch who took her. I only hoped she used her fighting skills I taught her, maybe she could get out of this one herself.

"That her sweater?" Maria asked.

I nodded." Aint no reason for it to be off neither." I said as I stuffed it into my bag, she'll need it when I find her." M'gonna track them." I said before looking to the ground, there was definitely a struggle and that made the knot in my stomach grow more and more.

I followed the tracks into the woods it was steady tracks nothing was unclear to me, I was happy honestly I just was so focused I didn't show it. I was also worried if I got too happy I'd be let down, not like I aint used to it, it's just I cant get too excited over this. Not yet. Not until I find her.

"How can you even tell if they are human tracks or walker tracks?" Steven asked.

I snorted." You wanna lesson in tracking or ya gonna trust me?"

He didn't say anything, and I was feeling cocky at the moment because of it, and cocky that I'd find Beth. I glanced up and saw there was a stream up ahead, either they went through it or they walked around. But walking around could take hours and I could lose the tracks, I decided I was gonna cross the stream. Maria and Steven had no objections about it, they followed in stride behind me.

When we finally crossed the stream I found the tracks again and I was happy that I made the right call, I followed some more hoping that I'd come to the end of them and see Beth or her temporary shelter when Maria squeaked and I turned around quickly and saw a man pointing a gun at her head. He was an older man with grey hair, the men around him looked like men Merle used to hang out with. Real _scum_.

"Get this dick on his knees." The grey haired man said and the guy with a screwed up mullet wacked Steven in his knees and he fell to the ground crying out.

I went to kneel down to help him when I felt something poke me in my back, it didn't take much for me to realize I had a gun pointed at my back and one move I was dead. The man told me to get on my knees and at first I didn't want too but I didn't want the same thing to happen that happened to Steven, my knees were bad enough. I knelt down and now the gun was pointed at my head.

"You two are gonna watch." They said.

My heart thundered in my chest, I knew exactly what the fuck they were going to do. I couldn't do anything and neither could Steven or else we'd get our brains blown out. And I wasn't going to get my brains blown out for her, she wasn't even mine. Now Beth is a different story I'd die for her, I don't know if I told her that but I would. And I will tell her that.

They pulled Maria on to the ground and two men held her while another one prepared himself, Steven was crying and all's I could do was look down at the ground. I couldn't watch. All's I could think about was Beth and where the hell she was and hoping she hadn't come across these assholes. I closed my eyes when I heard Maria scream, I had to do something.

Just as I began giving myself a pep talk to do something I jumped when a gun went off, at first I thought it was the gun to my head but realized that I was still alive and they'd shot Steven who was trying to get to Maria. I stared at his lifeless body in shock.

"That's gonna be you boy if ya try anything." The man heckled.

I just swallowed hard trying not to look at Steven or Maria, I looked down but the sounds of her muffled screams were enough to make me sick. I wanted to puke right then and there. I had to do something because she was a woman and this could be Beth, and if I died trying to save my girl then hell I'd want someone to finish the job. I took a deep breath and nonchalantly elbowed the man in his nuts and he dropped. I grabbed his gun and pointed it at the man preforming the act on Maria.

"Get the hell off her!" I demanded.

He looked over and smirked." And what're you gonna do huh, cowboy?" he turned toward the other men and they all began laughing.

I felt so sick, I could feel the pigs feet I ate coming to the surface. I swallowed hard and turned around towards the man on the ground moaning and groaning, I raised my gun and shot him in the head. The noise made the men stop. I turned back around towards them and saw they were standing now and the grey haired man was buckling his pants up, it was one against five.

_Come on Dixon, be a fucking man._

The grey haired man came forward and I held up the gun and he backed away, I wasn't playing around. Just because the world ended didn't mean that they needed to go around being animals, you don't do shit like that to people. I cocked the gun letting them no I wasn't kidding, the man looked like deer caught in the headlights at this point.

"You aint gonna kill me, I was just having some fun I was gonna let you in on it too." He chuckled then looked at his friend and swallowed hard." Lets put the gun down and we'll talk man to man about this."

I pulled the trigger just as he came close to me, I didn't believe him one bit. The other men stood there staring at me in shock, I couldn't just let them go free because they will probably do this again and possibly to Beth if she's alone. My heart hurt thinking of that.

"Y-You just killed Thomas!" One man shouted.

"Didn't have much a choice did I?"

The man with the messed up mullet came forward and before I could even shoot him someone else did, when he fell I saw Maria holding her gun. She was standing off to the side from the other two. She quickly walked over to the taller man and made him drop to his knees, he began crying but the shorter one just looked plain scared. _Too _scared to even breathe.

"This is for Steven, asshole!" She cried as she pulled the trigger.

The man fell forward and the other man began crying.

"NO!" He screamed repeatedly.

Maria looked at me and I nodded slightly, I turned away I had enough with killing people. I heard a shot go off but I heard the man's yelling and screaming, I thought she shot him in the head? I turned around and saw she just shot him in the stomach, I knew what she was going to do and I couldn't blame her. She looked up at me and I gave her another nod. We began collecting all the knives and guns that they had on them, once we got all the weapons we began hearing the moans and groans of walkers. We took off running while the man continued screaming and now pleading with us.

I was still sick from all this...

...

The sun was just now rising and there was a slight chill in the air, more so then the days before. Beth was running away from the person who took her, she had no time to go back for her sweater and she was freezing. She had heard some gunshots and it only drove her to run faster and it was so painful on her legs, they burned so badly she wanted to cry. In fact she was crying.

She had already ran through the creek with her captor hot on her tail, she was sure that she lost him but wasn't sure. She began praying heavily that he lost her but knowing him he's a tracker like Daryl is.

She finally collapsed on the ground breathing heavily, heart thundering against her rib cage. She was so amped up on adrenaline she was sure she'd sleep for years after it wore off, thing was she had to find a safe place because if her captor found her she's dead. He already _warned _her that would happen if she escaped and he found her, Beth made sure she kneed him in the crotch and gauged him in the eyes before running away, she wanted to hurt his manhood and his eye sight. Just in case.

She slowly stood up on her wobbly legs and began running again when she heard walkers, she had her knife in hand and gun on her pocket. Although she was out of bullets she felt safer with it, she ran through some brush which she was sure contained poison ivy. She had to get away from the man who claimed he was going to mean her no harm, or for that matter claimed he was a priest. Beth knew he wasn't a good person even if he did makeup the dead, she knew Daryl was right but had a hard time admitting it to him and to herself.

But now she knew.

...

Okay so again sorry for the rape scene, I didn't get graphic because rape is not something to glorify. I did however want to put it in there to show Daryl's reaction to it and give a feel of what he was going through, I hope I did a good job because it was super uncomfortable writing it. I wanted to also give you a little teaser of Beth, I felt that it was important to let you all know where our girl is and give a little In sight of what she went through to escape. Next chapter will definitely be about her and mostly all in her POV.

So tell me what you all thought of this chapter, I know it wasn't the best. But I hope it was..

p.s I wont be doing any more rape chapters rest assure my lovelies, it was a one time deal.


	6. Chapter 6

_She could hear the panicked screams of Daryl as she hovered between the state of asleep and awake, her vision was blurred and she could barely see. Her legs felt numb so numb that she could barely move them if at all, her arms felt the same as the laid just above her head. She was too tired to scream, too weak to fight, and too defeated to admit that she was wrong. She had never prayed for death to come as much as she did now._

...

Beth woke up to gentle patting against her face, she was in a lucid state so she knew she was asleep but she also knew she had to wake up. Finally with all her being her eyes shot open and she frantically looked around the car, her head hurt and when she tried to sit up it hurt so much that she fell back on to the seat. She knew this wasn't good.

"W-Where's Daryl?" She choked out. She looked over and saw the man looking down at the console, he looked saddened almost like there was some bad news to deliver, Beth couldn't take it if he said Daryl died. But he couldn't of she heard him screaming her name, or was that _just_ a dream?

"I don't know who Daryl is." The man spoke with a thick Boston accent, she supposed he was from Boston.

"Who are you?"

"Fredrick. People call me Freddy."

He seemed nice to her, but why the hell would he kidnap her? That was the question as of right now, she looked over him and really paid close attention to the detail in his jacket and just everything about him. He had dark brown eyes dark brown hair, scruff, and was wearing clerics clothes. _He was a priest. _Beth gasped and he whipped his head around.

"What?"

"Y-You're a P-Priest?" she asked.

He turned back around and nodded slowly.

"Then why the hell did you take me!?" She yelled as she sat up, most of the yelling was from the pain." Take me back to Daryl!"

"Were too far away from this Daryl, and please no cursing."

Beth's eyes widened with anger, her Irish blood began to boil over." WHAT?"

"Keep quiet!" He hissed.

"Fuck you." she spat and jerked open the door she jumped out but he grabbed her from behind trying to wrestle her to the ground, Beth elbowed him in the gut, dug her fingers into his eyes sending him to the ground his gun and knife clattering off to the side, she reached down quickly swiping the weapons. She looked down at the priest gasping for air, she kicked him in the ribs then his crotch. He screamed in agony.

She took off running into the woods, she figured she'd have a better vantage point if she went into the woods. She'd be able to track better and she wouldn't be seen, he'd have a hell of a time searching for her.

She immediately saw a creek up ahead and knew that was her best bet, she quickly dashed through the ice cold water and made it to the other side hoping she had lost him.

She ran as fast as her legs could go, she didn't know what happened from the time she was kidnapped up until now. And that scared her. Any number of things could have happened. But she didn't want to even think about that or else it'd slow her down. She pushed her way through some brush that felt thicker then molasses which slowed her down remarkably.

She began hearing some movement behind her and whether it was a walker or that priest she didn't want to be anywhere near, she began running as fast as she could even though her whole body protested against it. Her lungs felt on fire much like when she and Daryl fled the prison, she never thought she'd ever have to experience that feeling again.

There were some walkers up ahead so she slowed down a bit to catch her breath, but a hand wrapped around her mouth, she bit down hard on the hand and the man cried out. It couldn't have been better timing. The walkers turned around and began stumbling towards him, she made a b-line in the opposite direction.

She began running again even though she wanted to lie down and cry, she knew she couldn't but something in her gut told her not to get too tired too quick. She finally after a while collapsed on the ground breathing heavily, heart thundering against her rib cage. She was so amped up on adrenaline she was sure she'd sleep for years after it wore off, thing was she had to find a safe place because if her captor found her she's dead. He already _warned_ her in not so subtle hints that he'd kill her if she escaped and he found her, or at least that's what she knew would happen, she'd seen enough movies. Beth made sure she kicked him hard in the crotch and gouged him in the eyes before running away, she wanted to hurt his manhood and his eye sight. Just in case.

She slowly stood up on her wobbly legs and began running again when she heard walkers approaching, she had her knife in hand and gun in her pocket. Although she was out of bullets she felt safer with it, She pushed through some brush that she was sure contained poison ivy. She had to get away from the man who claimed he was going to mean her no harm, or for that matter _claimed_ he was a priest. Beth knew he wasn't a good person even if he did makeup the dead she knew Daryl was right but had a hard time admitting it to him and herself.

But now she knew.

...

Beth had found some shelter in an old cabin, it was one room and inside there was a bed a small kitchen and a bathroom off to the side, and next to it a small closet. It wasn't much but it was a lot to her, she shut and locked the door making sure it was secure, then went around shutting the dusty blue curtains so nobody could see her.

She walked over to the bed and plopped down not really caring how dusty it was, she put her gun on the nightstand just in case. She curled up into a ball and instantly tears started falling down her dirt covered cheeks, she was _alone _and now she felt it creeping up on her even more so now that Daryl is gone.

She cried for everything she wished she'd said to him, cried for him opening up to her and telling her how he felt about her, cried for not telling him how she felt about him. She cried for Maggie and her daddy and Judith, she wasn't her biological parent but being a parent means raising your child and giving them unconditional love and support and that's how she was with Judith, she was the closest thing to a daughter as she'll ever get and now that she's gone it's slowly killing her, and on top of that her daddy's death, and the other's and now Daryl. Beth wanted to end her pain, but something told her not too.

She sighed and rolled over on to her other side facing the wall and began praying, praying that everyone was still alive and somewhere safe, praying that Daryl was safe and that she'd be too one day.

Walkers began hissing just outside cutting her thinking time short, she froze in place unable to do anything else. She was so sick of walkers and bad people, she just wanted to find a place where she could be safe. Hell even just finding Daryl would be good enough for her. Fact was being a woman in this world wasn't the easiest or the safest, especially if you were alone.

She sniffled and rolled on to her back, it was finally sinking in. And for some reason she didn't want to cry anymore, she just wanted to survive. And she would. Just how she would do it would be the tricky part, she guessed she could try and find a car, scavenge the cabin for supplies and maybe a map and head north. She was done with Georgia and everything about it, even if it was where she grew up. It held her most happiest memories and her deepest darkest memories, and she wanted to forget them all.

She slowly got up off the bed and began searching the house high and low, she only found a few things she would probably need like a screw driver and an ammo box with some ammo inside, she found a jacket, it was a little big on her but it would work with the impending weather. She found a back pack and opened it up but there was only hunting items inside, she figured she could keep what she needed so it didn't way her down.

She heard some yelling just outside the cabin and she immediately ducked down by the cabinets, she pulled the bag in close with her. She couldn't take any chances of being seen, she pulled out the knife and held it close in her hands. She admired the all black metal and it's serrated edges, she didn't have time to admire it long before the shouts got louder and closer to the cabin. Suddenly she felt so exposed and vulnerable.

"Where are ya girl?" The man shouted as he pounded against the siding of the cabin making Beth jolt with every pound, he must have known she was in there or else he wouldn't have bothered.

Beth checked to see if there were any bullets for the .38 she had, as she riffled around in the ammo box she heard another man talking. Her head shot up and she stopped moving all together, her eye brows furrowed _who was that? _

She slowly stood up so she could peer out the window, she was afraid that he was trying to fool her but it would take a specialist to impersonate voices and she didn't think he had it in him to do so. She used the barrel of the gun to lift the dusty curtain up, she was just too shaky to use her hands.

The outside was clear, she let the dusty blue curtain fall as she slowly walked to the door. She grabbed the bag and shrugged it on to her shoulders, she knew this was her only chance to get away. And she would. She opened the door slowly and it creaked like a door in a scary movie would sending shivers down Beth's spine. She poked her out and looked to the left then the right.

She walked out slowly shutting the door behind her, she quietly ran to her right not looking behind her for anything. She hurried down the small hill just off to the side. She knew he was gone but she wasn't sure where he exactly was, all's she knew is she had to get away and fast. Since she was by herself now she'd track back to the funeral home and try and tack Daryl then find a car and head north.

...

**Daryl POV**

I knew Beth was inside when I heard that asshole yellin' for her to come out, My heart was pounding so damn fast and so loud that I literally thought it was gonna fall out of my chest. I needed to see her. The guy was a total dick he tried to stab me but I stabbed him in the gut with my knife, God only knows what he'd done to Beth so that's why I let him bleed out and let the walkers deal with him.

Me and Maria ran back to the cabin and I kicked the door in hoping I'd see her, either way we had to get out of there quickly or we'd be swarmed with walkers. We searched the house high and low, in the closet and the bathroom, under the bed just to make sure she wasn't hiding but we came up empty, until I saw the bed was messed up and I instantly felt relieved. She was _alive_. I turned to Maria who was coming out of the bathroom with some stuff.

"She's alive, she was here. She probably left." I said quickly. I walked to the door and looked around then down at the ground, I squinted my eyes and I saw small boot indents in the mud, it wasn't as clear as I hoped but it was a start. I pointed down to them." She went that way, C'mon." I waved my hand for Maria to follow, she didn't hesitate or try to stop me. I knew there was still time to catch her.

We followed the foot prints for about 5 minutes before we reached a hill, at first I almost didn't go down but then I realized the tracks hadn't veered off anywhere else, so she must have gone down the hill.

Me and Maria grabbed on to branches as she slowly slid our way down the hill, it was small but muddy and I didn't wanna get hurt. I was so close to her and I could feel it too. I just needed to keep seeing her tracks and I'd be okay.

...

**Beth POV**

I started running again even though my ankle began to throb, I had almost forgotten about my ankle injury and the glass that was stuck in my knee. I couldn't let that be the reason I slow down, I needed to keep on moving it was the only way. Maybe Daryl was still in the woods looking for me maybe I'd find him, but I don't want to go in the woods I'd rather stay out in the middle of the field in case he sees me.

But maybe Im confusing hopeful with being plain _naïve. _

I couldn't think like that or else I'd lie down and cry until I die, and I'm not _dying _until I have solid proof that he's dead. If he's dead why would I still want to be alive? If Maggie was dead but he wasn't I know it sounds cruel but I'd be okay, I'd have someone and I wouldn't be alone. But if Daryl is dead and I have proof that he and everyone else are dead I'm going to end it, I wont be able to survive without them. I love them all way too much.

I shook my head hoping to rid myself of those damn depressing thoughts, I'd make it and so will Daryl and we'd find each other and be happy.

I saw the sign for Macon and I sighed.

I continued on towards the sign which meant the road was just up ahead, I knew once I was on the road it would be harder to track him but I didn't care. I looked behind me making sure that priest wasn't following me, I saw two walkers walking towards me so I stopped and put my hand over my eyes to shade them from the sun. As they got closer I noticed they weren't walking like walkers should. I spent enough time observing the way those nasty things walked to know. I squinted my eyes and gasped.

I couldn't believe it. I slowly started walking towards them unsure if this was real or not, tears were already pouring down my face by this point. But I didn't have the strength to wipe them, was I just _dreaming?_ It was hard to decide.

I stopped but they kept on walking towards me, my eyes were wide and my heart was pounding. It was _Daryl. _He was so close to me I could already feel his arms wrapped around me, I broke down and began crying because if this was just my mind playing tricks on me and it really was walkers than I didn't want to know. I looked back up and he was standing in front of me his arms down at his side and had this look of shock, confusion and relief painted on his face.

"D-Daryl?" I choked out before everything went black.

...

**Daryl POV**

When I saw her standing there cryin' her eyes out I wanted nothing more then to wrap her in my arms and hold her, but something was wrong I couldn't move it was like I was frozen to the ground. Maybe at first I had some doubt about finding her that may have been a dick move but at first that's how I felt, but when I saw her I knew she'd been right all along to just have hope.

When I saw her drop to the ground I dove to her side. It was odd the way I moved when I saw her go down. I cradled her in my arms and began tapping her cheek and calling out her name hoping she'd wake up. She did, her eyes fluttered open and stared into mine.

"Daryl?" she questioned again.

I couldn't help but smile a little." Yeah it's me darlin." Wasn't exactly sure why I called her that it just kinda slipped, but she didn't seem fazed at all by it. I wasn't either. Maria squatted next to her and handed her a water bottle, she took it and drank it greedily. Water ran down her chin and I swiped it with my thumb.

"Is this real?" She rasped as I helped her sit up.

I breathed a small laugh." Yeah it is."

She sniffled and dove into my chest wrapping her arms around my neck almost squeezing the life out of me, I slowly wrapped my arms around her afraid that maybe she wasn't real and I was dreaming. But they way her body was pressed against mine and the way she smelled it was definitely real, and I was thrilled. I closed my eyes and laid my forehead on her shoulder, maybe I shoulda been thanking somebody up above for keeping her alive but me and God weren't exactly on good terms. I'd try to do my thanking later when we were all safe and secure in a building or something.

"C'mon we better get goin' before somebody sees us." Maria said.

Beth gasped." T-The P-Priest." She pointed in the direction me and Maria came in." He's the one...He's that bastard that took me."

I put my hand on her back and she dove back into my chest, I wrapped my arms around her this time without hesitation. Maria was keeping a look out while I tried to calm her down.

"He's dead." I mumbled in her ear." He aint never gonna hurt you again."

She looked up at me with tears still streaming down her face, I was hurt that she was cryin' again. All those other times I let it in one ear and out the other, but now it bothered me on a whole new level. I wasn't gonna ask her any questions about the priest, I didn't wanna push her. I would another day. I grabbed her hand and laced our fingers together, she squeezed my hand and I squeezed hers back.

I was finally _happy_ again..

...

They reunited yay! The reason I did the POV's like that is because I'm probably not going to do them again for a while, this chapter took me a long time to write mainly because I kept erasing everything, I wanted a quick reunion because there are some greater chapters coming up that I wanted Beth to be apart of. Plus I'm not very patient so it was killing me to write these two apart lol I hope this chapter was good. I also hope there were no spelling or grammar error's I checked over it like a million times. If there is I hope you still enjoyed the story!

I hope to see reviews :-)


	7. Chapter 7

Daryl watched over Beth and Maria as they slept in the sleeping bags they found earlier , Daryl was making sure Beth was closer to him then he'd wanted her before. It was a safety precaution, but also a personal thing. He couldn't take losing her again, he cared too much for her. He twirled his arrow in his fingers as he stared into the fire, he was zoning out. He just kept thinking that this was a dream and he'd wake up tomorrow without Beth.

Beth mumbled something in her sleep and Daryl's head snapped towards her, her face was contorting and Daryl was getting worried. Suddenly she shot straight up screaming at the top of her lungs, Maria shot up grabbing her gun. Daryl walked over to Beth and sat next to her and began rubbing her back.

"You okay?"

She sniffled and dove into his chest." He was trying to hurt me."

"He aint gonna hurt you." He said as he rubbed her back, he was worried now that she was going to have nightmares. She didn't deserve this. He stared into the fire as she sniffled into his chest, Daryl pushed Beth out in front of him and swiped away her tears." He aint never gonna hurt you ever again."

She sniffled and looked to her right." H-How can you be so sure?"

"Cause I took care of em."

Beth stared at Daryl with such a newfound respect for him, he did that for her and she will forever be in debt to him. She nodded slowly as she gazed down at the ground, Daryl's hand drifted up to her shoulder and he brushed her hair off. It fell down her back and she shivered. Daryl Pulled his bag over and began riffling through it, he pulled out Beth's sweater and handed it to her. Her eyes welled up with tears and she gave an appreciative smile his way.

Daryl was just doing what he thought was right, she was cold so he gave her back her sweater. He zipped up the back pack and pushed it back over to where he was sitting, he turned back around and watched as Beth pulled on her sweater. She looked up at Daryl and raised her hand to his face, he flinched and backed away a little but Beth didn't back away.

She gently laid her hand just under his jaw, he kept his stare on her face not really sure what she was going to do. She only rubbed her thumb over his scruff, he leaned into her hand but that's all he could do. Beth smiled and grabbed his other hand and intertwined their fingers, it felt so nice to hold hands with each other again. Daryl smiled a little at her as he gazed into her big beautiful blue eyes, it seemed like time stood still between them. It seemed like no one else existed but them, and it scared him.

He cleared his throat and looked down breaking the gaze, Beth's smile slowly faded and she let her hand drop into her lap. She was a tad bit hurt from his rejection but she could understand, she just wanted to feel something. She wanted to feel his arms wrapped around her so she knows she's safe, she feels safe with him but she would feel safer in his arms.

"Best get some sleep, gonna have a long day tomorrow." He said dryly.

Beth nodded slowly and laid back down in her sleeping bag facing the fire. She felt Daryl leave her side and walk back over to the tree he was at before she woke up screaming, she felt a single tear stream down her face. Aside from losing her whole entire family and being kidnapped, this was the hardest thing she has had to go through.

Daryl sat there staring into the fire while keeping Beth in the corner of his eye, he twirled his arrow in between his two fingers as he let his arms hang over his knees. He laid his head against the tree and let his eyes close shut. He'd only close his eyes for a minute, anymore time would be too _daring_.

...

Daryl's eyes shot open and it was day light he searched around him looking for Beth, but she wasn't there and neither was Maria, his heart dropped and he jumped up but hissed when a sharp pain shot through his neck. He gripped his neck and sighed as he tried to rub hoping it'd loosen up, he looked up when he heard some leaves crunching. He bent down to grab his bow but heard whispering, he squinted his eyes and saw Beth come out of the bushes first then Maria. Sudden anger washed over him, he walked over and snatched her hand jerking her over towards him. The look in her eyes was pure fear and confusion.

"Daryl what the hell?" She yelled as she jerked free.

He snorted." Where'd ya go?"

She stood there staring at him in shock, was he really going to go there. Was he really going to be an over protective asshole? She sighed and knelt down and started rolling up her sleeping bag, Daryl stood over her with his hands on his hips. She slowly looked up at him.

"What?"

"Don't gimmie that, I don't want ya going anywhere without me!"

She stood up quickly." Shut up." She hissed." I know you're scared and everything but that doesn't give you a right to yell at me!" She turned around with a huff and scooped up her sleeping bag, she walked over to the tree and began tying it up so it wouldn't unravel while they were on the road. Daryl walked over to her and leaned against the tree.

"I aint afraid."

"Please Daryl, I can see it on your face." She looked over at him and slowly touched his chin moving it up so he would look at her." I aint goin' anywhere, I know how to handle myself now."

"Not against the people who rap-..." he looked over at Maria and he watched as she glanced up but then back down at her bag she was stuffing her things into, he looked back at Beth and lowered his voice." Not the people who raped her." He darted his eyes over at Maria, Beth quickly looked over at her then back at Daryl.

She looked down and sighed." Daryl I understand but I need to be able to go pee without you hovering over my shoulder." She looked down at her sleeping bag with a noticeable blush creeping over her face, Daryl too blushed a little.

"Well tell me next time, Damn I just don't wanna wake up an' not see ya there." He admitted shyly.

Beth couldn't help but let the wild grin on her face grow, she looked down and giggled quietly. He cared for her she knew it too or else he wouldn't be acting this way, she leaned down and began riffling through the bag, there was a couple granola bars inside and two bottles of water. She'd have to share with Daryl. Maria walked over to them with her bag on her back, she had her thumbs in her belt loops.

"We going soon?" She asked.

Daryl nodded." Yeah. C'mon." Daryl pushed off the tree and grabbed the bag, Beth buckled the sleeping bag under the bag where it was when they found the bags. "Here." Daryl handed her his knife, she stared at it for a minute but shook her head.

He raised his eyebrows.

"I have my own." She said proudly as she patted her pocket.

Daryl nodded slowly and put his knife back in his sheath, he was saddened that she didn't want his knife. He wanted her to use it, hell he felt better knowing she had it. Made him feel safer knowing that with his knife she could handle anything, he sighed as he gripped his bow tighter in his hands.

Maria was leading the way, he wasn't going to stop her if she wanted to be up front without a weapon that was her choice. He on the other hand wasn't letting Beth out of his sights...Ever.. Unless she had to pee, then of course he'd back a way some but not too far. He didn't want any surprises he wanted to make sure that if she needed him he was there, he didn't ever want her to need him and for some reason he couldn't be there.

She was special to him and he couldn't really pin point it but something in his gut told him that she was kind of feeling the same way he was, he could see it in her face and every time she smiled at him it was like she was actually happy around him and she wasn't disgusted or judging. He on the other hand was always happy around her, he couldn't stay mad at her for long it was them _damn _blue eyes that always got to him.

...

A little while later they stumbled upon a house a log cabin to be exact, there were people inside and outside. They were living like the _Prairie _which bothered Daryl, something was off about them how they just were out in the open and had no means of an alarm system or any kind of protection. But maybe that's why they survived this long, he made sure Beth was close to his side and Maria was in ear shot. Last thing he needed was for her to go missing too, he felt obligated to keep her safe as well. After all Steven was kind enough to take him in and he didn't have too.

"What do we do?" Maria asked.

"Go in with our hands up."

Both Beth and Maria looked at him, then turned back towards the cabin. Children maybe 4 of them played outside while an older man chopped wood, it was odd to see it happening before them. Daryl stood up from his crouched position and Maria and Beth followed. One of two things could happen, they could see them and think they are looters and try and kill them or they could be accepting and let them stay or at least take a breather for an hour or two. Daryl was hoping for the latter.

Daryl shrugged his crossbow over his shoulder and made Maria and Beth hide their weapons, they needed to make themselves look as innocent as humanly possible. He still had a bad feeling about this. They slowly emerged from the tree line and began walking with their hands where they could see them, Daryl looked over at Beth and saw she had a deer caught in the head light look. His hand briefly brushed her hand, he hoped that let her know that it was okay. Even though he was lying to her and himself.

The man that was chopping wood began yelling and the children ran inside, Daryl's heart began pounding when his wife handed him a shotgun. Daryl was so tempted to just turn and run but they needed to rest, they needed a break and sitting in the woods wasn't a good enough break. Someone was constantly on watch and nerves frazzle waiting for impending danger, he hoped that they could at least understand that.

"That's good enough right there." He yelled as he inched forward, the threesome stopped and raised their hands a little higher hoping he'd see that they had no weapons and lay off." What do ya want?" He called out.

Daryl swallowed nervously." We don't mean harm, we just need a place to rest is all then we'll be gone outta your hair."

"We don't want anybody, had enough of them bandits."

"Please." Beth begged.

The man looked at all three of them then zeroed in on Beth and lowered his gun slowly." Gotta name?"

"Daryl.." He looked to Beth." She's Beth an' that's Maria."

The man looked back at the house to his wife and children than back at him, Daryl was relaxing a bit now but he wasn't totally off guard just yet. The man waved his hand for them to follow and he sighed a sigh of relief, he looked over at Beth and saw she was more curious now then afraid.

The three walked into the cabin and just as Daryl suspected it was rather small, they had a small couch, a kitchen and two bedrooms and there was a bathroom in the far corner. He wasn't sure how six people fit in the small house but he figured there was really no time to be picky, the woman looked scared and so did the kids. He was shocked to see a baby in the woman's arms making it 5 kids, Seven people all together. It'd been so long since he saw a baby that the poor thing seemed foreign to look at. How they all keep surviving was a mystery to him.

"This is my wife Laura, my son Michael, Caroline, Hannah, Annie and Thomas." The man said proudly as he pointed at each of his children, all of whom consumed their mother's brown hair instead of blonde like their father. The woman wore a dress that came down to her ankles and jean jacket, Daryl almost laughed out loud. It was the apocalypse and their living like Little House On The Prairie. That was the first thing that came to mind when he saw the man chopping wood and the kids running around.

Beth smiled." How old are they?"

Laura looked to her husband and he slowly nodded, she swallowed." Michael is only eight months, Caroline is five, Hannah is eight, Annie is nine, and Thomas is elven." She quickly quieted down and her lips pursed into a straight line.

Daryl observed the scene and was a little shocked at their behavior, she couldn't speak or didn't want too unless her husband gave her permission. Daryl looked to Beth and saw she was eyeing him, Maybe she caught on quickly too? He looked over at Maria and saw she was picking at her nails, she wasn't much of a talker now that Steven is gone.

"So I'm assuming your married to one of these ladies?" The man asked.

Daryl's eye brows pinched together in confusion, what in the world would even give him the slightest inclination he was married to one of them? That was the silliest thing he'd ever heard in his life.

"I'm his wife." Beth said quickly. Daryl shot her a glance that would have turned her to stone if in fact he had that ability, he was by no means married to Beth. But maybe there was a reasoning behind all this, maybe she caught on to something more that Daryl didn't.

The man nodded at Beth." And her?" He pointed to Maria.

"She's my cousin." Daryl piped up.

"One big happy family." The man said as he walked over to a closet, further investigation revealed a ladder. He pointed to it." There's an attic up there, Thomas and Annie usually sleep up there so there's two mattresses with blankets and pillows."

Daryl looked to Beth before walking over, he walked inside and looked up. It was dark up there but they'd manage for the night, Daryl turned back towards Beth and Maria and nodded. They slowly made their way over, Beth was the first to walk inside the closet.

"We gotta talk." Daryl whispered in her ear.

She rolled her eyes as she climbed up the wooden ladder, Maria went up second and Daryl followed her. The attic was small and dusty but they couldn't complain, at least they had a roof over their heads and a warm bed to sleep in. Beth sat down on a bed and Maria sat on another and quickly laid down letting her arm lay over her eyes, Daryl sat down on the floor since they couldn't stand without ducking.

"What the hell are ya thinkin' telling them were married?" He whispered angrily.

She sighed." Daryl it's for the best okay, what if they said something I didn't want them to think you were just some guy with two women riding on your coat tails tryin' to survive, they seem like their conservative people and what would that look like to them?"

She had a point, he definitely wouldn't play the part he was acting as himself. He wasn't _pretending _only because if they knew somehow that they were lying then they'll definitely kick them out, who wants liars staying with them and breaking bread with their children? Daryl riffled through the bag looking for something to nibble on when the door to the attic opened and the man poked his head up.

"My wife has some clean clothes for ya'll if ya want."

"Thank you." Beth said with a smile, the man didn't return it he only nodded as he descended down the ladder. Daryl looked her way trying to figure out what her deal was.

The woman walked up a couple seconds later and set out a couple pair's of clothes, Maria was asleep now so Beth and Daryl had first dibs. Beth walked hunched over and grabbed a long sleeved green thermal top that was complete with a pair of black jeans, she figured she'd just take the jeans with her because as of right now she was too tired to even pull on the clean shirt. But she did anyway so she didn't make their hosts gag, Daryl grabbed a flannel and a black long sleeved shirt. He looked a little worried to change in front of Beth, so he turned his back to the wall and faced Beth as he changed.

Something clattered to the floor and Beth's eyes zoned in on the shiny object right by Daryl's foot, he eventually looked down and quickly stooped down to pick it up. Beth walked over as she pulled on the green thermal, she pointed to the silver dangling object in his hand.

"What's that?"

"What's what?" He asked trying to play it like he didn't know, Beth put her hands on her hips and tilted her head to the side. She stared at Daryl and he stared right back, his face finally fell and he looked down at his hand and slowly opened it. A silver cross necklace was inside, her eyes widened and a smile was automatically on her face.

"Found it back at the funeral home... I stole it an' got nervous cause of what ya said about stealin' so I chickened out on giving it to ya, wish I didn't though." He looked down at it. Beth walked over and slowly covered the palm of his hand with hers, her skin was soft and warm and his was rough and cold. But somehow it worked. She slowly slid the necklace off of his hand and held it up in the air as she inspected it.

"It's beautiful Daryl."

He snorted." It's a piece of loot I stole."

She sighed and rubbed her thumb over the smooth surface of the cross, it was beautiful she thought just like the gesture even though it was stealing. She thought it was amazing how much of an impact she has on Daryl that he would actually think about when to give it to her, she knew something was up with him that night but she didn't know what. Now she knows.

"Help me put it on?" She asked.

Daryl wasn't an expert on this but he'd try, she made sure the necklace was the correct way before handing it to him. He put it around her neck and tried the clasp, it was harder then he imagined especially with no light. Finally after a second of not getting it he finally snapped it. He let it fall and it sparkled in the small light that came through the attic window, she turned around and smiled at him.

"Thank you." She leaned up on her tippy toes and pressed a small kiss to his lips, Daryl was frozen in his spot as her lips touched his, her lips were doing something to his insides something he wasn't familiar with at all. She tasted sweet like chocolate probably from the granola bar she ate earlier, much to his dismay she pulled away and stared at him with a smile as she sat down on the bed. His breath shuddered, he wasn't sure what happened and isn't even sure it happened, but whatever happened definitely was nice for once.

...

Okay sorry if there was any mistakes or grammar error's it's really later, I hope you all liked the chapter anyways? Things are moving smoothly as I planned, their first kiss was kind of how I vision it will be on the show, maybe not exactly but still the awkwardness of it. And Beth definitely making the first move and Daryl unsure of what to do, I hope it was okay? lol next chapter we'll get into more of why Beth Is pretending that their married..

Anyways lovelies please review make my morning filled with lots of them, I'll be so happy.. I love you all who review, favorite and follow :-)


	8. Chapter 8

Daryl laid on the hard wooden floor with his arm behind his head and his other over his stomach, he wasn't able to get any sleep because of Beth. He still was unsure if the kiss really happened or not, he usually never had kisses that meant so much to him. But the fact that this kiss did mean a lot made him nervous, nervous in sense of it was dangerous grounds to cover. Dangerous because of the world around them and dangerous because he'd never stepped foot on those grounds before, not with anyone.

He wasn't going to lie about it he really enjoyed having her lips on his, it made him feel warm inside and safe on the outside. Having someone to hold was definitely something he didn't want to pass up, but he was worried if he got too close, too attached that she'd get ripped away from him...Again. He sighed and sat up straight, he never managed to get any sleep he was too deep in his thoughts. He rubbed his face and looked over at Beth, she was curled up and had a blanket over her legs. He stood up slowly and carefully so he didn't hit his head on the wooden beam just right above.

He heard the door to the attic open up and he knew that it must be close to dinner time, his stomach must have known because it let out a rumble. Daryl shook Beth gently and her eyes shot open, she looked up at Daryl and smiled as she stretched out her limbs. She hissed a little making Daryl stop in his tracks and turn back around.

"You alright?"

"My knee is killin' me." She rubbed it a little. Daryl walked over and sat down next to her and gently picked up her leg, his hand ghosted over her knee and she hissed again. The bandage was a fresh one that he made sure she put on after they found each other, she put her hand over his and held it there for a moment too long. He looked up at her and realized she was already staring, their eyes locked.

"Daryl." she whispered.

He swallowed."Hm?"

"Did you like when I k-kissed you earlier?"

Daryl's heart raced and his hands began to sweat, he couldn't bring himself to speak. His hand twitched a little as it rested on her knee, his thumb began rubbing small circles on the underside of her knee. It was an act he did subconsciously when he was touching her. He knew he still had to answer Beth because she was staring at him with those _damn _blue eyes. He looked over at her and their eyes locked again. He shrugged a little.

Beth's pursed lips slowly formed into a small grin." Can I kiss you again?" She asked as she inched closer to him, he swallowed hard his eyes never leaving Beth's. It was like he was hypnotized by her.

"Beth." Her name tumbled off his lips breathlessly, he had to admit though he kind of liked it. She stopped moving and stared at him, the ball was in his court now and he had to decide. But he couldn't, and she could tell.

"It's okay Daryl." She laid her head on his shoulder and rubbed his back a little, she knew things were probably too awkward as it was. And now pretending they were married, that was a whole new can of awkwardness. She felt how tense he was and realized that he was probably not really happy to have her moving on him the way she was, but she couldn't help it. She liked the feel of his lips on hers, and the whole idea of kissing Daryl of all people was thrilling. But she understood that maybe things were moving just a little too fast.

"Ya'll decent up there?"

Daryl cleared his throat." Uh Y-Yeah."

"Dinner's just bout done, I'm sure ya'll are hungry. Just come down when your ready."

"Alright thanks." Daryl replied and stood up quickly, Beth didn't understand what the big deal was though they were touching each other at the funeral home and even before that. Maybe it was the fact that people were around them now and they couldn't act themselves, which was a little sugar coated but she liked it. And she knew Daryl did too or else he wouldn't have continued to do it.

She stood up and walked over to Maria who was slightly snoring, she shook her gently and she rolled around a bit before her eyes opened up. Beth smiled down at her, Maria sat up rubbing her face.

"What's up?"

"Dinner's almost done." Beth said sweetly." Are you hungry?"

Maria nodded." Yeah I could grab a bite."

Beth nodded and followed Daryl down the ladder, the kids were all sitting around the table with their hands folded out in front of them. Beth missed seeing this. There was another table a smaller one with three chairs around it, Beth made her way over to that table. The man from earlier stood up clearing his throat and holding out his hand.

"I seemed to forget my manners, I'm Frank. Guess I was a little hot earlier." He chuckled a little.

Daryl nodded and shook his hand after some hesitation, he watched as Beth and Maria sat down at the table that was set with white china that had blue print around the edges. Daryl didn't really care what he ate the food on just as long as he could eat, and from the looks of it and smell it was going to be a good dinner. Daryl made his way over to the table and sat down with his back facing the others. Beth held out her hand for Daryl and he gave her a confused look, she eyeballed the rest and he snuck a glance behind him. They were getting ready to pray.

"Gotta be kiddin' me." He mumbled under his breath, he reached both hands up and held both Beth and Maria's hands as Frank began.

"Lord we thank you for this meal we are about the receive, thank you for blessing us with enough resources to eat such a wonderful meal. And thank you for keeping us alive this long, lets hope that it continues. Amen."

"Amen." Beth said as she took the fork and began eating the mashed potatoes.

Daryl was a little worried, the meat looked different to him. As appetizing as it looked he just couldn't get over the fact that there was something wrong with it, he stopped Beth and Maria from eating it and told them in hushed tones what he was thinking and they suddenly noticed the look of the meat was different from what they normally see in deer, squirrel and quail.

"What do we do." Beth asked.

"Don't eat the meat."

Maria took a drink of water." I'm a vegetarian, you two are also." She eyed Daryl and Beth and watched as they slowly nodded. Beth began eating the mashed potatoes and corn.

"So how long have you and Beth been married?" Frank asked.

Beth smiled." Two years."

"Still in the honeymoon phase." He smiled.

"Not much of a honeymoon." Daryl grumbled as he chewed the corn and mashed potatoes.

"Well we're pretty discrete about certain things, conservative if you will. I know you two are young but I hope you'll abide by our wishes while you our under our roof."

The heat in Beth's face grew when she realized what he had meant, that never even dawned on her. She looked down at her plate of food with a noticeable blush, Daryl was looking down at his mashed potatoes and corn, luckily the man turned and began eating his meat. Beth could tell Daryl was having a hard time pretending, especially when the subject of sex came up. She could tell he was embarrassed.

After dinner was over Beth helped Laura clean up must to her dismay, Beth was observing them especially Laura. She didn't speak much and neither did the kids, Beth was under the assumption that she was just shy as well as the kids. But something felt off. After Beth was finished she made her way up to the attic with Daryl following, he wanted to stay behind and make sure everything went okay.

Maria was already asleep by the time that they got upstairs, Beth walked over to the bed and plopped down. Daryl stood there awkwardly as he watched Beth take off her boots, he scratched the back of his neck. Beth looked up after taking off her boots, she set them aside then patted the bed. Under any circumstances he would have declined but considering the floor was so hard and uncomfortable he couldn't resist the offer to sleep in a warm comfortable bed, he slowly slid his feet out of his boots and slid his vest off. It would be the first night that he felt safe enough to take off his layers.

He walked over to the bed and sat down, the bed was springy but it was better then the floor even though he would never admit it. He laid back on to the bed and he felt Nirvana completely was over his body, he was in heaven. The bed may have been old and springy but it was the best since the funeral home, he could feel Beth's breath on him as she closed the gap between them. He didn't feel uncomfortable but he felt nervous, he'd never slept with a woman and not do _anything. _It was all new to him.

"What do you think was wrong with the meat?"

He knew what was wrong with the meat, the greying color it had to it. It definitely wasn't for human consumption, well at least his people weren't eating it. He could careless what they ate, it wasn't his, Beth's or Maria's problem as they were leaving in the morning.

"I dunno."

Beth sighed quietly." Yes you do, I'm a big girl Daryl you can tell me."

He knew she was a big girl, she wasn't a girl she was a woman and he noticed every single day. He was just worried because he didn't want to scare her, she was the person who believed there were still good people in the world up until she was kidnapped. He wasn't sure if she still believed and if she did he didn't want to ruin that. He didn't want to be the one to continue to tell her that there were bad people in the world, and that all the good people died.

"I want to know Daryl."

"Wasn't fit to eat that's for damn sure." He began twiddling his thumbs.

"Well how come they can eat it?"

He shrugged." Cause they been eatin' it for awhile, musta built up an immunity to whatever it is." He looked over at Beth and saw her eyes as big as saucers." We're leavin' in the morning, so we don't have to worry. They'll live their life and continue to eat whatever shit they tried to feed us, but we aint staying."

Beth nodded.

"We'll find a car and leave the state, M'tired of all these freaks."

"We cant go without the others!" She bellowed.

Daryl grunted." Keep quiet."

"Sorry." She said a bit quieter." I need to find Maggie and Glenn, they are my only family Daryl. The only family I got left."

"That aint true." He said quickly his voice full of emotion, he hated that she didn't think of him as family. He knew she meant Maggie more, but Daryl still felt slighted. He didn't want her to feel like she had nobody or that she had no family, because she did regardless. He looked up at her as she sat there staring back at him.

"I-I'm sorry Daryl." She apologized quietly." I didn't mean that you weren't... I just I meant I need to find my sister, let her know I'm alive."

"I know." he played with his stubble." We'll find'er and Glenn."

She smiled and leaned down wrapping her arms around his neck, she laid her head against his shoulder and her nose pressed against his jaw bone. Daryl stared at the ceiling unsure of what to do, they'd hugged before but never in a bed. He was afraid if he touched her things would happen and knowing him he was certain they would. Her breath tickled his neck a little but he didn't feel uncomfortable, he felt content with where he was. She made him feel this way.

"Thank you Daryl."

He nodded." Just doin' my job."

"You didn't have too though, you coulda not even looked for me out there. You coulda just given up."

"I did if it wasn't for her an' her boyfriend."

Beth's face softened." W-What happened to him?"

Daryl swallowed as the memory came flooding back, all his fears and worries of Beth ending up like Maria came back to haunt him. He inhaled deeply then exhaled." He got shot tryin' to save her when..." He trailed off unable to go on he swallowed the lump in his throat. Beth laid her head back on his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"Its okay, you don't have to say anymore."

He nodded and looked away towards the small attic window, the moon was amazing as it filtered into the room casting light on to the floor and bed. He could see a few stars but not that many, but still the few that he could see reminded him of his childhood when he used to stare out his window up at the sky, seemed like he was looking up at his old friends. Although painful the memories sometimes soothed him, when he'd listen to a thunder storm or look at the moon and stars it took him away from the hell that they lived in each and every day.

"Goodnight Daryl."

He nodded slowly." Night Greene."

...

Next chapter will be interesting/crazy *Evil grin* this chapter was definitely a filler and we didn't really get into why she pretended they were married. A little maybe. But Daryl is starting to catch on, definitely next chapter he will. Their getting closer though which is interesting, it's only going to get better.

Please, please review I love hearing from you all :-)


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